Rivian reportedly plans to lay off about five percent of its workforce

The electric truck maker is said to be planning to lay off hundreds of workers. While the company has not made a firm decision about the collective job cuts, according to , about five percent of the workforce could fall. The number of its employees is more than 14,000, which is equivalent to about 700 employees. The report suggests that layoffs may be announced in the coming weeks. Rivian declined to comment on Engadget.

The job cuts will be primarily for non-manufacturing jobs in areas where Rivian has expanded very rapidly. Teams with duplicate jobs are said to be among those targeted by the company. The total number of employees at Rivian has doubled somewhat over the past year as the automaker’s production has increased.

The auto industry has been hit hard by supply chain problems and the economic climate, and Rivian appears to be no exception. The company is still anticipating this despite the production difficulties. Rivian eventually aims to manufacture 600,000 vehicles annually between its current plant in Normal, Illinois, expected to open in 2024.

The company has tens of thousands of electric vehicle orders backlogged. It will have to juggle those it will build for Amazon by the end of the decade. As such, boosting production while simplifying operations elsewhere seems to be a logical step.

The news followed the indication that Rivian has hired dozens of former Tesla employees in recent months, according to LinkedIn data. It was reported in late June that Tesla was off the Autopilot team after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to cut the company’s paid workforce by 10 percent. Musk told employees earlier that month that he had a “very bad feeling” about the state of the economy and expected layoffs.