San Francisco, Feb 2 (IANS): With an aim to cut costs, electric car maker Rivian is laying off 6 per cent of its workforce, the media reported.

As reported by Reuters, Rivian's chief executive RJ Scaringe announced the lay-offs in an email to employees, stating that the firm is focusing resources on increasing vehicle manufacturing and achieving profitability.

Despite a massive initial public offering in November 2021, the price of Rivian's shares has dropped by about 90 per cent as of Tuesday's closure.

"We must focus our resources on ramp and our path to profitability," Scaringe wrote in the email.

He also apologised to employees for the necessity of the cuts, the report mentioned.

In July last year, the electric car maker had confirmed to lay off around 6 per cent of its 14,000 employees, or around 800 people, to ramp up future versions of its electric vehicles.

In an email, spokesperson Amy Mast had said that the company made the decision to speed up development on future versions of its electric trucks and SUVs.