The electric automaker Rivian confirmed Thursday it's cutting hundreds of positions – about 4.5% of its companywide workforce. That would be about 600 jobs.
It's unclear how many of those jobs are in Normal; a Rivian spokesperson said no manufacturing operations employees are impacted.
In a memo to employees, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said the changes are concentrated on teams that help deliver and service vehicles, plus streamlining the company's marketing group. Specifically, Vehicle Operations will fold into the Service team, and Delivery and Mobile Operations will go into Sales. Rivian's multiple marketing groups will be merged into a single marketing team, led by a new chief marketing officer.
Scaringe said the cuts were necessary "with the launch of R2 in front of us and the need to profitably scale our business."
"These are not changes that were made lightly. With the changing operating backdrop, we had to rethink how we are scaling our go-to-market functions. This news is challenging to hear, and the hard work and contributions of the team members who are leaving are greatly appreciated," Scaringe wrote. "These changes are being made to ensure we can deliver on our potential by scaling efficiently towards building a healthy and profitable business. I am incredibly confident in R2 and the hard work of our teams to deliver and ramp this incredible product."
This would the second round of layoffs in as many months, following a 1.5% cut to Rivian's global workforce reported in September. In that round, nine jobs in Normal were cut, WGLT reported.
Rivian has faced a litany of challenges, including a far more hostile approach to electric vehicles under President Trump. Sweeping and still-fluid changes to U.S. trade policy and reduced demand for regulatory credits are hurting Rivian's bottom line. A tough second quarter (April, May and June 2025) broke Rivian's two-quarter streak of positive gross profit. Rivian posted a $206 million loss in the second quarter, which is still better than the $451 million loss this time a year ago, according to documents provided by the company.
Rivian will announce its third-quarter earnings (covering July, August and September 2025) on Nov. 4.
Rivian makes its electric pickups, vans and SUVs in Normal. It's one of McLean County's largest employers, although the company recently stopped disclosing how many people work there for unknown reasons.
The layoffs were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
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