GMs Cruise slashes more than 900 jobs after recalling robotaxis General Motors

Table Of Content

• Learning the Ropes: How to Prevent Data Theft by Employees
• GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce
• Cruise robotaxis in crisis: Layoffs, recall, and algorithm found to have blind spot for kids
• Company says it now will focus on just 1 market for driverless taxis before scaling up
• Cruise begins layoffs, starting with workers who supported driverless operations
• Subway Franchisees Fined $218K for Illegally Pocketing Employees' Tips

A barrage of safety concerns and incidents have plagued Cruise self-driving car, since it received approval in August for round-the-clock robotaxi service in San Francisco. Cruise leaders have said the goal is to focus on a fully driverless service, prioritizing the Bolt platform, and it will slow down its commercialization to improve safety. Cruise announced a round of layoffs Thursday affecting contract workers who worked on its driverless ridehailing service, CNBC has learned. The cuts included those who help with cleaning vehicles, fleet charging and fielding customer support inquiries.

Learning the Ropes: How to Prevent Data Theft by Employees

On October 2, a Cruise car hit and dragged a San Francisco pedestrian who had been struck earlier by another car. Earlier this month, according to audio leaked to Forbes from an all-hands meeting, CEO Kyle Vogt confirmed that staff layoffs were coming. Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving development subsidiary, will lay off almost a quarter of its workforce—about 900 employees—the company announced Thursday.

GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce

The DMV suspension came a week after federal auto safety regulators announced they were investigating Cruise following pedestrian injuries. The probe, spearheaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was prompted by multiple reports involving pedestrian injuries and Cruise vehicles in recent months, and it concerns an estimated 594 self-driving Cruise vehicles, according to the filing. In the aftermath, the company hired two outside law firms to review Cruise’s safety protocols as well as determine whether Cruise purposefully withheld video footage from the California DMV of its driverless vehicle dragging the hit-and-run victim to the side of the road. The company issued a voluntary recall of all 950 Cruise vehicles earlier this month to update the software to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Cruise robotaxis in crisis: Layoffs, recall, and algorithm found to have blind spot for kids

This is one of the hardest days we've had so far because so many talented people are leaving. I'm thankful we had the chance to work together, and I know I speak on behalf of so many Cruisers who will be reaching out to those departing to help with our professional networks and references. On behalf of the SLT, the Cruise Board and GM, I'm truly grateful to everyone who has played a role in building Cruise and who has poured so much into the promise of making our roads safer and our world better. What's nextAs mentioned, in a few moments, you will receive an email letting you know whether or not you are affected by this staffing reduction, and if you are impacted, you will get details about what happens next.

Company says it now will focus on just 1 market for driverless taxis before scaling up

Vendors will make their own determination about severance for those workers, according to Testo. The accident — and its fallout — have called into question the future of the tech and auto industry’s pursuit of self-driving cars. Since Google started working on the first autonomous vehicle more than a decade ago, dozens of companies have poured tens of billions of dollars into building software and persuading regulators to permit testing on roads around the country. Cruise, the embattled GM self-driving car subsidiary, is laying off 900 employees, or about 24% of its workforce, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The layoffs are part of a plan to slash costs and attempt to revamp the company following an October 2 incident that left a pedestrian stuck under and then dragged by one of its robotaxis. As a result of our decision to slow down commercialization, we are restructuring to focus on delivering the improvements to our tech and vehicle performance that will build trust in our AVs.

GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce - The HR Digest

GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce.

Posted: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

As you might have learned, yesterday, we took action to part ways with several SLT members. Craig and I believe this is a necessary step, and our leadership team and the board are fully aligned with how our go-forward U.S. staffing needs will map to the priorities ahead of us, and set up Cruise for the long term. We have also ended additional assignments of contingent workers who support our driverless operations, as we refined our go forward plans.

The subsidiary announced the cuts on Thursday in a letter to Cruise’s 3,800 workers from its president and chief technical officer, Mo ElShenawy, who wrote that the layoffs were not the fault of the workers. The job cuts come a day after Cruise confirmed that nine key leaders are no longer with the company amid an ongoing investigation into an October crash involving one of its driverless robotaxis that forced it to suspend operations. Cruise, the GM self-driving car subsidiary, has started laying off contingent workers after pausing all of it driverless operations and losing key commercial permits that allowed it to operate a robotaxi service in San Francisco. "Today, we are making staff reductions that will affect 24% of full-time Cruisers, through no fault of their own," the company said in a blog post on its website. "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. As a result, we are reducing our employee counts in operations and other areas."

GM tells its Cruise employees 24% of them will be laid off 'through no fault of their own' - UPI News

GM tells its Cruise employees 24% of them will be laid off 'through no fault of their own'.

Posted: Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The GM Cruise layoffs, which primarily affected commercial operations and related corporate functions, are the latest turmoil for the robotaxi startup. This come one day after Cruise dismissed nine “key leaders” for the company’s response to an Oct 2 accident in which a pedestrian was dragged 20 feet by a Cruise self-driving car after being struck by another vehicle. "We know there’s no 'good' way to lay off employees, but treating people fairly on their way out was a key principle that guided our approach," Elshenawy wrote. "We are offering departing Cruisers pay, at minimum, through April 8, 2024 (approximately 16 weeks), plus continued subsidized health benefits, RSU (restricted stock units) vesting, the January 5 bonus, and additional immigration support for those holding work visas." GM and the Cruise board have been scrambling ever since the October 2 incident put the company in the crosshairs of state, local and federal agencies. However, Cruise’s robotaxi operations in San Francisco had been criticized by the public and city officials almost immediately after the California Public Utilities Commission issued the company in August the final permit required to operate commercially.

Cruise opted to stop all its operations nationwide and recall all of its 950 self-driving modified Chevrolet Bolt cars. It has hired a third party to conduct a review of the incident and Cruise's response to it. Cruise announced it would be pausing driverless operations for a review by independent experts and later recalled all 950 of its cars to update software. The letter said they would stay on the payroll through 12 February and are eligible for another eight weeks of pay. Long-term employees will get another two weeks of pay for every year at the company over three years, the letter said.

Since the GM Cruise accident, its self-driving car robotaxi fleet has been grounded, pending the results of independent safety probes; its leadership has been gutted. Also Cruise self-driving car production has been halted; hundreds of vehicles have been recalled; and local and federal government officials have launched their own investigations, among other concerns. GM Cruise workforce was about 3,800 before Thursday’s cuts, which also follow a round of Cruise layoffs of contractor last month. Affected employees will receive paychecks until Feb 12 and at least an additional eight weeks of pay, plus severance based on tenure.

Interestingly, the post said that the company is looking to hire a chief safety officer and is bringing on law firm Quinn Emmanuel, which has worked with Elon Musk, to review its response to the October pedestrian incident in San Francisco. Since purchasing Cruise in 2016 for $1 billion, General Motors has been hemorrhaging money. From January to September, GM lost $1.9 billion on Cruise expenses between January and September this year, in addition to a $732 million loss in the third quarter.

In a statement Thursday, GM spokeswoman Aimee Ridella said GM supports the difficult employment decisions made by Cruise as it focuses on safety improvements. The reduction is necessary, Cruise leaders said, as the company looks to improve safety by slowing down its commercial growth going forward. “This is one of the hardest days we’ve had so far because so many talented people are leaving,” ElShenawy wrote. Cruise has said it will eventually relaunch its driverless ridehail operations in just one city.