Transportation

Fisker cuts deeper with new wave of summer layoffs

Fisker warned staff they might be laid off if efforts to course correct are unsuccessful.
Fisker launched another round of layoffs this week, multiple sources told Business Insider. Michael Tullberg
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The embattled electric-vehicle startup Fisker kicked off another round of layoffs on Wednesday, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Business Insider.

Fisker has made several cuts to its workforce over the past few months. In February, its CEO announced plans to cut 15% of its staff. Most recently, Fisker sent a round of layoff notices on April 29.

The series of cuts are designed to eventually bring the workforce down to a skeleton crew of only "mission critical" staff, one Fisker employee with knowledge of the issue said.

The total number of employees affected by this latest staff reduction wasn't clear. A spokesperson for Fisker declined to comment.

Fisker has repeatedly warned over the past few months that the company may go out of business within the year. On April 29, the company sent notices to staffers, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, that they may be laid off in two months if the company can't find a buyer or additional funding.

Fisker had that month told workers in an all-hands meeting that it was in talks with four automakers about a potential buyout.

Last week, Fisker's CEO told staffers in a companywide meeting that the company had reached out to other automakers in addition to the initial four. "I do hope we're closing in on something serious here in weeks rather than months," Henrik Fisker said.

In March, Business Insider first reported that Fisker had delivered over 6,000 all-electric Fisker Ocean SUVs since the model's launch. The company said in early 2023 that it had "approximately 65,000" reservations for the vehicle ahead of its US launch that June, but the company has since faced negative reviews and cancellations.

Do you work for Fisker or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email at gkay@insider.com

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Grace Kay
Grace Kay was a Correspondent on Business Insider’s enterprise desk, where she covered the inner workings of Tesla, Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, and the broader robotics and electric vehicle industries.Her stories have been cited by multiple publications, including Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNBC. Before joining Business Insider, she worked at Bloomberg and Forbes.Tesla: Inside 'Project Rodeo,' the Tesla effort pushing the limits of self-driving technologyInternal Tesla salary database shows Elon Musk's strategy: Lower salaries, bigger stock grantsTesla tells staff it plans to roll out its Robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekendTesla has been working on modified Model Ys for its Robotaxi programTesla prioritizes Musk's and other 'VIP' drivers' data to train self-driving softwareAshok Elluswamy is the most powerful Tesla executive you've never heard ofxAI:Internal documents reveal how Elon Musk's xAI trains Grok to be the anti-woke chatbotXAI's Macrohard project stalls as Tesla ramps up a similar AI agent effortElon Musk's xAI plans to supply computing power to coding startup CursorWar rooms, group chats, and video games: Inside Elon Musk's AI startupBehind Grok's 'sexy' settings, workers review explicit and disturbing contentElon Musk's xAI lays off hundreds of workers tasked with training GrokEVs and robots:Fisker employees are fixing some customers' cars with parts from the company's vehicle 'graveyard,' sources sayFisker Ocean reservation cancellations top 40,000 as the EV company tries to fight off bankruptcy, leaked data showsInside the downfall of Henrik Fisker's second automotive startup, which just filed for bankruptcyInside the glass-walled Tesla lab where workers train the Optimus robot to act like a humanInside OpenAI's renewed push into robotics