A: Hey, Yuji! Guess what?
B: What's up, Mike? I didn't catch anything new today.
A: RJ Scaringe from Rivian is shaking things up at his company! He's taking a new role as the chief marketing officer while they search for someone permanent.
B: Whoa, that's big news! What does that mean?
A: Well, it means some changes are coming. Over 600 employees are gonna lose their jobs because of this restructuring. They're launching the R2 SUV next year.
B: Oh man, that's tough for those folks... Is RJ taking on other teams too?
A: Yeah, his direct reports just got bigger! He'll now be in charge of marketing experiences and creative studio. It's not clear how many he had before, though.
B: Sounds like a lot of shake-ups going on. Any idea why this is happening now?
A: Rivian made three sets of layoffs this year already. The latest one's the biggest, about 4.5% of the workforce. They blame it on the loss of the federal EV tax credit, increased tariffs from Trump, and general challenges for clean energy in America.
B: I see... So, they're reorganizing to streamline the customer experience too?
A: Exactly! They're combining vehicle operations with service division, and delivery and mobile ops will live inside sales now. It's all to make the buying process as seamless as possible. Crazy times in the EV world, huh?