Table Of Content
- WFH Is Here to Stay—How To Manage a Remote Team Effectively?
- GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce
- Cruise self-driving car suspension
- Cruise Ends Stock Buybacks For Employees Amid Ongoing Safety Crisis
- Learning the Ropes: How to Prevent Data Theft by Employees
- Subway Franchisees Fined $218K for Illegally Pocketing Employees' Tips
“We are simplifying and focusing our efforts to return with an exceptional service in one city to start with,” ElShenawy wrote. “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 [autonomous vehicles],” the letter said. The news follows a barrage of safety concerns and incidents since Cruise, owned by General Motors, received approval in August for round-the-clock robotaxi service in San Francisco. In October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday suspended Cruise's deployment and testing permits for its autonomous vehicles, effective immediately. Cruise is targeting non-engineering jobs in the layoffs, particularly those people who worked in the field, commercial operations and corporate staffing, according to the email.
WFH Is Here to Stay—How To Manage a Remote Team Effectively?
This week, the company, which has 4,000 employees, started laying off contingent workers who support the driverless fleet, with more layoffs to follow, according to TechCrunch. Today, we are making staff reductions that will affect 24% of full-time Cruisers, through no fault of their own. 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. These impacts are largely outside of engineering, although some Tech positions are impacted also.
GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce
GM's Cruise robotaxi company begins layoffs, recalls entire fleet after cars crash into pedestrians - New York Post
GM's Cruise robotaxi company begins layoffs, recalls entire fleet after cars crash into pedestrians.
Posted: Fri, 10 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The company will also “prioritize” the Chevy Bolt platform it uses for its fleet, indicating that production of its Origin shuttle without steering wheel and pedals will remain indefinitely paused. “We knew this day was coming, but that does not make it any less difficult—especially for those whose jobs are affected,” he wrote. That followed California's suspension of Cruise's permit to operate driverless vehicles in October. In a few moments, you will receive an email letting you know whether or not you are affected by this staffing reduction. If you are impacted, you will get details about what happens next in a subsequent email. General Motors' Cruise on Thursday announced internally that it will lay off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce, the company confirmed to CNBC.
Cruise self-driving car suspension
Cruise executives said at the time they wanted to take a measured business approach that preserves cash and improves safety culture in an attempt to put GM’s troubled autonomous vehicle subsidiary on the right path. In October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise's deployment and testing permits for its autonomous vehicles, alongside a statement that said, "When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits." General Motors voluntarily recalled Cruise’s entire fleet of 950 robotaxis, and yesterday, Cruise published a blog post in response to the recent events.
California regulators have alleged that Cruise covered up how bad the October crash was – which could result in a potential penalty of roughly $1.5m. The robotaxi service is also being investigated by US auto safety regulators after separately receiving reports of potential risks to pedestrians and passengers. Cruise told CNBC that the layoffs are reflective of its current supervised driving operations, adding that the company plans to resume driverless service but that it does not have a specific timeline to share. But GM isn’t ready to pull back completely from self-driving technology like some of its competitors. In an interview in Washington, DC, yesterday, Barra said that fully driverless cars will scale faster than a lot of people think.
October 2023
GM’s Cruise cutting 24% of workforce, fires 9 execs amid robotaxi safety probe - Fox Business
GM’s Cruise cutting 24% of workforce, fires 9 execs amid robotaxi safety probe.
Posted: Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The company has scored some significant victories in recent months, including a vote in California to allow it to operate its driverless robotaxi service 24/7 — only to see most of that progress evaporate after a series of errors have exposed major problems with Cruise’s management. Following the resignation of Vogt, Mo Elshenawy, the company’s VP for engineering, was promoted to president and chief technology officer. Cruise, the self-driving unit of General Motors, will lay off nearly a quarter of its employees, or 900 workers, after grounding its fleet in response to an incident in which a hit-and-run victim became pinned under a Cruise vehicle and then was dragged 20 feet to the side of the road. The company told employees the decision was made for a few reasons, including that driverless operations had been paused or “deprioritized as we focus on supervised driving for the time being,” according to an internal message sent early Thursday morning and viewed by TechCrunch. Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt told employees during an all-hands meeting Monday that layoffs were coming, sources who were on the call told TechCrunch. Cruise used all-electric Chevy Bolt vehicles, which have been specifically manufactured to support its self-driving system, in its robotaxi fleet.
Learning the Ropes: How to Prevent Data Theft by Employees
“This reflects our new future and a more deliberate go-to-market path, meaning less immediate need for field, commercial operations and corporate staffing,” Cruise said of the layoffs. GM Cruise on Thursday announced internally that it will lay off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce. Cruise layoffs will affect around 24% of its workforce as it works to restructure operations following an accident that forced it to halt U.S. testing, the company said on Thursday. The employment actions come following an initial analysis of the 2 October crash and the company response after a Cruise robotaxi ran over and injured a pedestrian who had been hit by another vehicle driven by a human.
Subway Franchisees Fined $218K for Illegally Pocketing Employees' Tips
General Motors has absorbed huge losses during the development of the driverless service that was supposed to generate $1bn in revenue by 2025, with plans to expand beyond San Francisco. Many of you will be impacted because we aren't commercializing as quickly, and therefore don't need support in certain cities or facilities. We didn't take any of these decisions lightly, though I know that isn't much of a consolation if you're someone affected by the actions we are taking today. In November, Cruise said it would eventually re-launch in one unspecified city before expanding. Previously, Cruise had touted ambitious plans to expand to more cities, offering fully autonomous taxi rides. The so-called “Recurring Liquidity Opportunity,” or RLO, was implemented in the wake of the departure of Cruise’s previous CEO.
SixThreeZero Electric Rickshaw review: This fun e-bike can carry an entire family!
As the Free Press reported, on Oct. 2 in San Francisco, a Nissan Sentra hit a pedestrian, pushing her into the path of an oncoming Cruise driverless car. The car then proceeded to drive 20 feet at 7 mph to the curb, dragging the woman and leaving her critically injured. "When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits," the California DMV said in a statement.
Cruise, the embattled self-driving car subsidiary of General Motors, said on Thursday that it would eliminate about 900 jobs, roughly a quarter of its work force, as the company looked to rein in costs after an October incident led California regulators to shut down its robot taxi operations. The layoffs come just a day after nine senior leaders (SLT) at Cruise, who worked in its commercial operations, legal and policy departments, were dismissed by the company’s board. COO Gil West and David Estrada, who was head of government affairs, were among that group. Dec. 14 (UPI) -- On Thursday, the GM-owned Cruise driverless taxi startup told its employees in an email and blog post that 24% of full-time Cruise workers will be laid off. A barrage of safety concerns and incidents have plagued Cruise, majority-owned by GM, since it received approval in August for round-the-clock robotaxi service in San Francisco.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles pulled Cruise’s operating permit, citing that the vehicles “are not safe for the public’s operation” and “misrepresentation” of the car’s technology. A few weeks later, Cruise paused all of its operations in other cities, including Austin, Houston, Dallas, Miami, and Phoenix. "Cruise has made the difficult decision to reduce a portion of the contingent workforce that supported driverless ridehail operations," a company spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. "These contingent workers were responsible for work such as cleaning, charging and maintaining the fleet, and we're grateful for their contributions." It’s been a tumultuous seven years since GM first announced its plan to acquire Cruise with the goal of rapidly commercializing the technology.
The layoffs follow a series of missteps in recent months that culminated in the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspending the company’s driverless vehicle permit. The California Public Utilities Commission pulled Cruise’s permit, which allowed it to charge for robotaxi rides, soon after. The agencies suspended Cruise’s permits after an October 2 incident, in which a pedestrian who was struck by a human driver and then landed in the adjacent lane, was then run over by a Cruise robotaxi. The robotaxi initiated its brakes and came to a stop with the pedestrian under the vehicle.
Our message to other employers in the market is that each departing Cruiser is a talented, driven, and mission-focused team member who will contribute and achieve great things elsewhere. Other companies will be privileged to have these professionals on their teams, as we were privileged to have them here during their time at Cruise. We knew this day was coming, but that does not make it any less difficult—especially for those whose jobs are affected. Cruise could face $1.5 million in fines and additional sanctions over its failure to disclose details surrounding the accident, a California agency has said. As part of their total compensation, Cruise employees would receive some cash salary and also would receive another portion as company stock.
That final decision by the robotaxi to attempt to pull over was part of the reason the agencies decided to suspend the permit. Workers will remain on the payroll through February 12 and will be eligible for an additional eight weeks of pay, with long-term employees offered an additional two weeks’ pay per every year at Cruise over three years, according to the email to staff. Anyone laid off will also receive their 2023 bonus (eligible target payout) on January 5, 2024.
GM has lost $8.2 billion on Cruise since 2017 but expects to lose much less going forward. In a recent call with investors, the automaker didn’t share specific cash reductions, but chief financial officer Paul Jacobson said it would likely amount to “hundreds of millions” of dollars. The company also said that all employees, regardless of whether they were laid off, will receive their January 15th vesting through its employee share-selling program.
For GM, that includes slashing spending at Cruise “by hundreds of millions of dollars” in 2024, an action that most expected would result in widespread layoffs. The cuts at Cruise add to a tumultuous fall for the robotaxi company, which until recently was ,along with Alphabet’s Waymo. California regulators in October suspended Cruise’s permit to operate in San Francisco—home to its longest-running test bed—as they alleged the company failed to disclose details of a crash that sent a pedestrian to the hospital with serious injuries.
No comments:
Post a Comment