A new report citing a now-former Rivian employee paints the automaker in quite a dim light. The person claims that at times it felt like working in the Wild West and that losing their job during last week’s layoffs actually ended up feeling almost like a relief. Here’s a breakdown of their claims and some additional sources that might back up their account.
The report from Business Insider essentially functions as an “as-told-to essay,” derived from a discussion with a former Rivian employee who was laid off Thursday. The individual spoke anonymously to safeguard their privacy. The publication asserts that it has “verified their identity and employment.“
The employee in question had already survived three previous layoffs at Rivian in the past. They started at the company in 2019, and when Rivian made deals with Amazon and Ford, things were looking up. The automaker had so much free cash that spending $40 on lunch every day was no big deal. As cost-cutting measures took place it was hard to curtail that spending.
“Post-IPO, a lot of those old tech habits died hard. It was difficult to change our spending habits. In 2022, I finally felt like we no longer had infinite money,” the ex employee wrote on Business Insider.
With each round of layoffs, it became clear to this worker that long-term planning wasn’t going to be an easy thing. “This past year, I thought: ‘Oh my God, can I make major life decisions? Can I buy a house knowing that I might not have a job because every 12 months we have another layoff?'” they said in the report. That’s why it was almost a relief when the layoff finally came on Thursday.
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However, the former Rivian employee doesn’t squarely blame the leadership.
“I don’t blame the leadership at Rivian because I don’t think it was a strategic problem,” he wrote. “There are a lot of things outside the control of the company. I have heavy stakes in the stock since I worked there for so long, so I want the company to succeed. Considering interest rates and cash on hand, it’s also hard to see a positive outlook.”
This report might not be all that unique after a little digging on the Rivian Reddit thread discussing the same former employee’s account. Several posters claim to have worked for the EV startup and were also laid off on Thursday last week. While we are still working to confirm the legitimacy of these accounts, they do express a common theme.
One poster remarked, “It’s true, costs were out of control for years until recently. We had hordes of overpaid consultants and redundancy everywhere, especially software. I can echo the same bit that my layoff was almost a relief.”
That relief makes sense when you consider the rest of their statement: “It was becoming clear to me at Rivian that the executive level just kept dropping the ball so many times that caused so much strain on everyone beneath them. This includes the pricing fiasco, dumping cash into e-bikes and restoring an old theatre, and the countless re-orgs that caused so much confusion and unnecessary work,” said the user on the Reddit thread.
Even if this isn’t actually a now-former employee of Rivian, it’s a great point nonetheless.
More: Rivian Cuts Workforce By 10%, Doesn’t Expect To Sell More EVs This Year
The automaker has clearly spent a great deal on things outside the realm of building and producing vehicles while at the same time consistently axing its staff. Another commenter on the same Reddit thread said that “I’m an employee that was laid off last Thursday. But honestly this layoff feels like a gift now and I’m super excited for where I land with all the work and experience from this company.”
A third poster compared and contrasted their experience after an earlier layoff round. “I was let go in round two. Now working a similar job but have actual work/life balance. It was a bit of a relief for me too. At least they gave a good severance!” they said.
One recurring theme from all these accounts is that being employed at Rivian can be a real challenge beyond the work itself. On top of that, it might be harder and harder to attract good talent with a consistent habit of spending money on side projects while culling the staff on a regular basis.
