Cruise announced it would cut almost 25% of its workforce, amid months of turmoil after a high-profile incident and safety investigations.
General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicles unit is in a major shakeup, as it announced the firing of nine executives Wednesday — including the company’s chief operating officer Gil West — and would slash its payroll by 900 full-time employees Thursday. Both moves come after CEO Kyle Vogt and co-founder Dan Kan both resigned from their positions in the past few weeks.
Cruise pulled its vehicles from testing after California pulled its permits, following a pedestrian accident in San Francisco in October. On top of its regulatory woes, GM said it would cut back spending on its robotaxi subsidiary, which lost more than $700 million in the third quarter of 2023 alone. The automaker says it “supports the difficult employment decisions made by Cruise as it reflects their more deliberate path forward, with safety as the north star.”
Currently, Cruise faces an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as well as scrutiny from state regulatory bodies like those in California. The latest round of layoffs primarily focus on making certain commercial operations and corporate positions redundant, as the company aims to dramatically change its initial plans moving forward. Beyond trimming expenses, Cruise could face millions of dollars in fines and added restrictions when it does eventually relaunch its operations.
In November, Cruise said it would reboot its autonomous vehicle operations in one unspecified city. From there, it would expand outward once again, but that is still a marked departure from just a few months ago, when the company had ambitious plans to ramp up its robotaxi service to the public in several cities across the U.S.
Of the executives leaving the company, Cruise said in a memo: “We are committed to full transparency and are focused on rebuilding trust and operating with the highest standards when it comes to safety, integrity and accountability. As a result, we believe that new leadership is necessary to achieve these goals.” Among those departures were Cruise’s Chief Legal and Policy Officer Jeff Bleich as well as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs David Estrada.
