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Autonomous driving startup Zoox lays off about 120 contract workers due to shutdown due to epidemic

Gasgoo Auto News? According to foreign media reports, last week, Zoox, a self-driving startup with a market capitalization of over US$3 billion, laid off almost all of its contract workers, including safety drivers for self-driving cars. It is said that there are about 120 People will lose their jobs.

(Picture source: Zoox)

Zoox fired employees

Last Friday (April 3, local time), Zoox employees received an email They were informed via email that they were officially fired, effective immediately, and that the company's email, Zoom, and Slack would be closed to them, and they were required to hand over their company-issued laptops and work badges. However, Zoox insists that this should not be considered a "standard layoff" as everyone will be rehired once the lockdown is lifted, unless otherwise stated.

The email stated: "Zoox intends to resume testing and normal business operations. Your efforts will be needed in the future to get everything back on track."

Several Zoox interviewed Former employees said they did not expect Zoox to fulfill its promises. One former employee who left Zoox in December said the company had high turnover, noting that five of the seven people who joined him were laid off or fired within three weeks.

Zoox appears to be the first self-driving car operator to announce layoffs after the outbreak. In response to the outbreak, most companies in the industry have temporarily suspended operations.

Zoox said in a statement that it will comply with California’s lockdown regulations until May 3, which will bring logistical and financial challenges to the company’s operations, including if remote work is not possible. , will stop paying Zoox contractors after April 7.

The company said: "This decision was not easy and unfortunately reflects the difficult situation many companies are facing in an uncertain economic environment." The company also added that it was able to remotely Contractors working on jobs will not be fired.

What company is Zoox?

Zoox, headquartered in Foster City, California, was founded in 2014. Unlike many competitors that are transforming traditional cars, its goal is to develop and build self-driving cars from scratch. The company plans to launch a car by the end of 2020 that can drive both forward and backward without turning around. Zoox said it hopes to begin testing its self-driving taxi service next year.

The company has hundreds of full-time software engineers, artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, and coding experts. Like most self-driving car companies, the company relies on third parties to provide it with safety drivers, mechanics, vehicle cleaners and others involved in the day-to-day operations of its fleet. Zoox has multi-year contracts with Aerotek and Experis, a move that reduces Zoox's costs while also allowing it some legal leeway with many of its employees.

Zoox stops testing self-driving cars

Zoox has registered 50 self-driving test vehicles in California and also operates a smaller fleet in Las Vegas. In early March, as U.S. cities followed lockdown orders in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Zoox said it would stop testing its vehicles on public roads in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Initially, some of the company’s contract workers thought they were being fired, according to online chat logs. A safety driver said they contacted an Experis representative to ask about the shutdown and received a link to information about unemployment insurance.

However, Zoox denied the above statement, believing that it was caused by poor communication, and promised to continue to pay employees’ wages before April 7, provided that after April 7, these employees will continue to pay their wages. Come back and get back to work. The company has chosen to lay off such workers as shutdowns caused by the pandemic continue. A spokesperson for the company said: "As always, the safety and health of our team and community is of paramount importance. Therefore, in accordance with public health orders, we are suspending operations in San Francisco and Las Vegas until April 7. Operate self-driving vehicles. Drivers will continue to be paid during this time. We will work with everyone to evaluate the development of this extremely challenging situation."

California's shutdown order has been extended. May 3rd means that many self-driving companies are in or will soon be in a similar situation to Zoox. Some companies are exploring how to be designated an "essential business" so they can continue testing during the lockdown. However, safety drivers say they will be very reluctant to go back to work without strict social distancing orders.

Written at the end:

According to data from Layoffs.fyi, a data service provider that collects layoff data from technology companies through public information, as of April 4, there have been approximately 126 layoffs in the United States. Three technology startups announced layoffs, totaling more than 10,000 layoffs. Considering that Layoffs.fyi's data only includes publicly announced data by companies, the actual number of layoffs is likely to be higher.

In addition, the epidemic in the United States is still intensifying at present. We will continue to pay attention to whether such technology startups can survive and how they develop in the future.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.