As Rivian gears up to launch its midsize R2 SUV in Normal, the EV manufacturer is downsizing its company with a new round of layoffs.

California-based Rivian, which builds all of its electric pickups, SUVs and commercial vehicles in downstate Illinois, gave notice Thursday to more than 600 employees, or roughly 4.5% of its workforce, the company said.

“With the launch of R2 in front of us and the need to profitably scale our business, we have made the very difficult decision to make a number of structural adjustments to our teams,” Rivian CEO and founder R.J. Scaringe said in a memo to employees. “These are not changes that were made lightly.”

Scaringe said the cuts will primarily streamline customer service and marketing departments. No manufacturing operations employees are affected b

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