Rivian Lays Off Hundreds Of Workers A Week After R2 Launch

• Rivian is laying off about 2% of its workforce just as its new R2 begins to hit the streets.
• This equates to around 300 workers.
• Rivian says the restructuring is necessary for growth.

Just after getting the much-hyped R2 out the door, Rivian is laying off hundreds of workers. The layoffs, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, will impact less than 2% of Rivian’s total workforce.

Photo by: Rivian

Rivian employed about 15,200 people at the end of 2025, so 2% translates to around 300 people.

A company spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the cuts are centered around teams in Rivian’s service and customer segments. That includes roles in go-to-market functions (like sales and marketing).

“We recently restructured a handful of teams within Rivian as we work to profitably scale our business,” the company told the outlet.

Rivian officially launched customer deliveries of the R2 just one week ago on June 9. The electric SUV, positioned to be the industry’s most serious competitor to the Tesla Model Y from a U.S.-based startup, is incredibly important to Rivian.

Not only is it the vehicle meant to transition Rivian from the boutique adventurer brand that built the expensive R1, but it’s also charged with helping the automaker achieve profitability. Rivian has not yet achieved an annual profit, losing $3.6 billion in 2025 and $4.7 billion in 2024.

The R2 should also be Rivian’s highest-volume vehicle yet. In 2025, Rivian delivered just under 42,250 vehicles, yet it plans to deliver 20,000 R2s this year. It will transition production to a massive new plant in Georgia by 2028, which is sized to crank out up to 300,000 vehicles each year.