Cruise axes 24% of staff amid budget crunch

Cruise workers are starting to feel those budget cuts.

In further bad news for the embattled autonomous taxi company, Cruise announced it will fire 900 employees, or 24% of staff.

Workers were informed of the layoffs Thursday morning in an email from new President Mo Elshenawy. Individual employees would learn the fate of their jobs an hour after the announcement.

“We are simplifying and focusing our efforts to return with an exceptional service in one city to start with and focusing on the Bolt platform for this first step before we scale,” Mr. Elshenawy wrote.

The layoffs are largely outside the engineering sector, with most coming from the commercial and corporate side of Cruise’s operations. Much of the rhetoric from parent company General Motors has centered on development and safety.

“These changes reflect our decision to focus on more deliberate commercialization plans, with safety as our north star,” the company said. “We are supporting impacted Cruisers with strong severance and benefits packages and are grateful to the departing employees who played important roles in building Cruise and supporting our mission.”

All fired employees will be paid through February, with some being eligible for an additional eight weeks of pay. Long-time employees will also be eligible for extended benefits through May.

The firings come one day after the company announced a major shakeup in management, with the departure of nine executives following an internal investigation into why the company lost its ability to operate its self-driving vehicles in California.

Following a probe into an Oct. 2 incident, where a Cruise autonomous taxi pinned and dragged a pedestrian, California regulatory bodies revoked Cruise’s permits to operate its cars in the state.

In the aftermath, co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigned and GM replaced many of Cruise’s leadership and enforced more control over the company.

GM proceeded to say it would slash the Cruise budget, likely contributing to this week’s layoffs.