The Cruise Autonomous Vehicle Company is saying “almost” to 50% of its workforce, cuts that extend to the CEO and several other senior executives, while preparing to close the operations. What remains of Cruise will move under the General Motor Motor Motor company as the car manufacturer directs its resources to improve its assistance system for the hands -free driver Super Cruise, and finally launches personal autonomous vehicles.
The layoffs were announced by Craig Glidden, president and administrative director of Cruise, according to an email from the entire company that TechCrunch has seen and verified with Fuentes. The affected people received a separate email from the director of Human Resources of Cruises, Nilka Thomas.
CEO Marc Whitten will depart from Cruise this week, along with Thomas, Security Director Steve Kenner and the Global Public Policies Chief Rob Grant.
Mo Elshenawy, the main technologist at Cruise, will remain until the end of April to help with the transition.
“As a result of the change in the strategy we announced in December, today we will separate ourselves from almost 50% of our cruise employees base, through a reduction in force,” says Glidden’s email. “Anyone who has gone through a reduction knows that days like this are extremely difficult, and today is no different. With our departure from the transport business and to provide autonomous vehicles to customers together with GM, our personnel and resources needs have changed dramatically. Today’s actions align our teams with our new needs and focus our efforts to continue building world -class AV technology. “
As of January 2024, Cruise used some 2,100 people, according to sources that based estimates on the number of members on a slack channel for the company’s ads. That means that more than 1,000 employees could have been affected by dismissals.
“Cruise shared the difficult decision to separate with approximately 50% of its workforce,” the company wrote in a statement sent by email. “We are grateful for their passion and contributions to help us reach this stage, and our approach is to support them in their next chapter with compensation and professional support packages. While it is not an easy decision, we are focused on combining efforts with General Motors to accelerate autonomy at scale in personal autonomous vehicles. “
GM sent a press release (After the dismissals were announced internally) that has completed its acquisition of GM Cruise Holdings LLC after the approval of the GM fusion supply by the Cruise Board of Directors. Cruise is now a total property subsidiary of GM.
All employees who were dismissed will remain on the company’s payroll until April 5 and the benefits until the end of April. Affected workers will receive eight weeks of compensation and benefits. Long -term employees will be offered another two weeks of payment and benefits for each full year of employment for three years. All employees will also receive three months of coverage paid by the company, as well as a LinkedIn premium subscription for a year to support their job search.
The layoffs occur almost two months after GM said that it would no longer finance the development of a Robotaxi commercial business and, on the other hand, would focus on building personal technology of autonomous vehicles.
The automobile manufacturer expects to save up to $ 1 billion annually at the end of its Cruise Robotaxi development program. According to the details shared during the company’s profit call in the fourth quarter. At that time, financial director Paul Jacobson said that projected cost savings were based on the assumption that “cruise employees will be completely integrated in GM in the middle of the year.”
In mid -January, Cruise Management began to extend retention offers to employees, almost all engineers, according to sources familiar with the matter. In an email to Cruise employees, CEO Marc Whitten indicated that the next steps would arrive after the cruise board gathered. That meeting occurred on Monday, according to a source.
While cruise employees initially were blinded by GM’s decision to disconnect the Robotaxi Development Program, they have waited for such an ad for weeks.
The sources that spoke with Techcrunch said they had barely been working and in a limbo state from the GM announcement while waiting for the next steps. On Monday afternoon, Glidden sent a loose message to employees saying that he hopes to share “some news about the transition plans tomorrow” and advised employees to “plan to work from home.”
“Thank you for your patience during this time: we know that uncertainty has been difficult, but has sailed the last weeks with grace and professionalism,” Glidden wrote.
Glidden had previously served as executive vice president of GM of legal and political, but the automobile manufacturer assigned his role in Cruise In November 2023After a cruise safety incident that led to the fall of the company.
On October 2, 2023, a Robotaxi cruise ran over a pedestrian who had been thrown on his way through a vehicle driven by humans. The Robotaxi then dragged the pedestrian, which was trapped under the car, about 20 feet while trying a sweater maneuver.
Cruise officials did not immediately share that relevant information with the authorities, and when it was revealed, the California Motorized Vehicle Department and the Public Services Commission immediately suspended the company’s permits immediately to operate. Then, Cruise based his entire Robotaxi fleet in the United States, and much of his leadership team resigned, including co -founder and CEO Kyle Vogt.
After installing a new leadership, including a permanent security director, Cruise was preparing for a relaunch earlier this year in Austin. The company had spent much of 2024 testing in Phoenix, Dallas, Houston and the Bay area and reinforcing its security systems. Two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that the company had been ready to implement a modernized sensor solution internally referred to as Rhino Project that would have resolved for the incident of October 2 by creating additional visibility and awareness under the car.
In June 2024, GM injected another $ 850 million in Cruise, which contributed its total expenditure on the company since it acquired most Cruise’s shares in 2016 about $ 10 billion. In September, ElShenawy, president and chief of Technologist at Cruise, organized a great party for cruise employees that some read as a sign that the company was moving forward.
An earlier version included a Cruise statement that put the dismissal count by 40%. Cruise then corrected his statement To reflect Glidden’s email, which said that almost 50% of workers would be fired.
