The electric automaker Rivian says it’s cutting over 100 manufacturing jobs to “improve operational efficiency” as it prepares to launch production of a new vehicle in Normal.
Rivian did not say exactly how many workers were laid off or what their duties were. They were salaried, not hourly, positions. The company said only that it represents about 1% of the total number of employees, which was 14,861 people as of Dec. 31. 1% of that would be around 148 workers.
“We have made the difficult decision to reduce a small number of our salaried manufacturing employees as part of an ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency for R2,” a Rivian spokesperson told WGLT.
Affected employees are eligible for rehire and encouraged to apply to other open positions for consideration within Rivian, the company said.
Rivian has around 8,000 employees in Normal, where it makes electric trucks, vans and SUVs in a large manufacturing plant on the community’s west side. It’s McLean County’s second-largest employer, behind only State Farm.
Rivian is currently expanding the Normal plant to add capacity for its new R2 model, which will go into production in 2026. It’s a lower-cost model than the R1S SUV and R1T pickup now being made.
The job cuts were first reported by TechCrunch.
