Key leaders depart GM's Cruise, layoffs announced amid investigation into SF incident CBS San Francisco

Table Of Content

• Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud
• The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat
• Unlike most cruise lines, Bridgemans can pre-purchase all the food it needs before deployment.
• GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce
• GM’s moonshot bet on self-driving cars sours as Cruise axes a quarter of its workforce
• Cruise self-driving car suspension
• GM Cruise layoffs of workforce

Although half of global cruise passengers are American, economics dictates that cruise-ship workers are disproportionately recruited from developing countries such as the Philippines, which is home to almost half of the workers on Norwegian’s 31 ships. Indeed, Filipinos account for almost 30 percent of the overall industry workforce, with most of the rest coming from other low-opportunity labor markets — think India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics. As we’ve shared, our goal is to focus our work on a fully driverless L4 service that meets a new AV performance bar, prioritize the Bolt platform, relaunch ridehail in one city to start, and enhance our safety standards and processes before we scale. We are ceasing work on the Origin MY24 but not losing sight of our work on future programs. This is very different from our prior plans to expand into more than a dozen new cities in 2024.

Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud

A memo from Cruise President Mo Elshenawy, which was shared by the self-driving unit online, shows that the nine executives were but the tip of the iceberg in the company’s efforts to strategize its operations. But many driverless car executives now worry that Cruise’s troubles could lead regulators to increase their enforcement and scrutiny of the nascent technology. And financial pressures have been mounting for start-ups that sell sensors and other technology to self-driving car companies. The embattled self-driving car subsidiary of General Motors faces an uncertain future after California regulators shut down its robot taxi service in the state.

The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat

Also Cruise self-driving car production has been halted; hundreds of vehicles have been recalled; and local and federal government officials have launched their own investigations, among other concerns. According to Reuters.com, the cruise industry employs about 250,000 onboard workers from over 100 countries, but pandemic-related visa restrictions and "a general preference for flexible working hours" have impacted company staff numbers. Workers will remain on the payroll through February 12 and will be eligible for an additional eight weeks of pay, with long-term employees offered an additional two weeks’ pay per every year at Cruise over three years, according to the email to staff.

Unlike most cruise lines, Bridgemans can pre-purchase all the food it needs before deployment.

In more metropolitan areas, Bridgemans says its ships could lessen the stress an inundation of workers might have on the local housing market. Five decks above in the Palm Court, Martin Chow’s job is to waltz or foxtrot with mostly older, unmarried women passengers. Mr. Chow, a 62-year-old retired computer programmer from Vancouver, isn’t paid — but volunteers as a part-year onboard dance host in return for room and board “so that I can see the world,” he explained. Cruise admitted the loss of 900 full-time employees would be painful and blamed itself for the cutbacks.

GM Cruise Layoffs Affecting Almost 24% of the Workforce

But Cruise’s troubles grew exponentially when it was less than forthright about the circumstances surrounding the critical injury of a pedestrian, in which it was inadvertently involved. Mary Barra, CEO of GM, had hoped to haul in $50 billion in annual revenue in 2030 through the company, but has since had to revise her plans as a result of the crisis. Plans to expand beyond San Francisco into a dozen cities have now been scrapped to focus on just the one.

GM’s moonshot bet on self-driving cars sours as Cruise axes a quarter of its workforce

Cruise executives said at the time they wanted to take a measured business approach that preserves cash and improves safety culture in an attempt to put GM’s troubled autonomous vehicle subsidiary on the right path. Moreover, because cruise workers don’t pay for housing or food, they are able to remit much of it to support their families. “Workers also have opportunities for training and advancement within the industry,” notes Macinzie McFarland of the CLIA. Probably as important, experience on a name-brand cruise line, along with the chance to polish foreign languages, is a valuable credential for working back home in the high-end hospitality industry.

Cruise self-driving car suspension

Regulators accused Cruise of omitting footage of its car dragging the woman from a video that it provided to state officials. Grange says this allows the ships to maintain food quality and consistency in remote locations. The 35,000 gross-ton ship is now on its first deployment in Howe Sound, just north of Vancouver, where it's housing more than 600 workers who are building Woodfibre LNG's "net zero" LNG export facility. Cruise lines use “hiring partners” who prescreen applicants for the companies’ in-house recruiters and schedulers. Once a new hire is assigned to a ship, the hiring partner helps them apply for visas and makes medical and travel arrangements.

Elon Musk explains Tesla strategy behind layoffs as executives depart

In August, Cruise received approval to deploy its self-driving robotaxis 24/7 in San Francisco. Following an incident when one of the company’s self-driving robotaxis crashed into a firetruck, however, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) advised Cruise to cut its fleet in the city by 50%. Barra reiterated plans for Cruise to be more “deliberate” when operations eventually resume at the troubled self-driving vehicle subsidiary. For GM, that includes slashing spending at Cruise “by hundreds of millions of dollars” in 2024, an action that most expected would result in widespread layoffs.

GM Cruise layoffs of workforce

More Cruise woes: GM's autonomous vehicle unit lays off 24% of staff - Detroit News

More Cruise woes: GM's autonomous vehicle unit lays off 24% of staff.

Posted: Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Robotaxi company Cruise is axing a full quarter of its workforce, eliminating 900 jobs as the financial rot at the General Motors subsidiary threatens to spread. Union leaders Thursday called for the immediate removal of CPUC commissioner John Reynolds, who worked for Cruise as an attorney for years before being appointed by Governor Newsom. This is one of the hardest days we’ve had so far because so many talented people are leaving. I’m thankful we had the chance to work together, and I know I speak on behalf of so many Cruisers who will be reaching out to those departing to help with our professional networks and references. On behalf of the SLT, the Cruise Board and GM, I’m truly grateful to everyone who has played a role in building Cruise and who has poured so much into the promise of making our roads safer and our world better.

Since Google started working on the first autonomous vehicle more than a decade ago, dozens of companies have poured tens of billions of dollars into building software and persuading regulators to permit testing on roads around the country. “Workers” may be a better term than “employees,” given that many jobs are contract positions typically lasting from 2 to 11 months. Cruise lines generally do not discuss pay and benefits, although Carnival and Royal Caribbean — both publicly traded companies — reported median compensation of around $15,000 in 2022. CruiseCritic discussion boards are filled with complaints of minimal pay and exploitative working conditions. Since the GM Cruise accident, its self-driving car robotaxi fleet has been grounded, pending the results of independent safety probes; its leadership has been gutted.

Our message to other employers in the market is that each departing Cruiser is a talented, driven, and mission-focused team member who will contribute and achieve great things elsewhere. Other companies will be privileged to have these professionals on their teams, as we were privileged to have them here during their time at Cruise. Many of you will be impacted because we aren’t commercializing as quickly, and therefore don’t need support in certain cities or facilities. We didn’t take any of these decisions lightly, though I know that isn’t much of a consolation if you’re someone affected by the actions we are taking today. In a few moments, you will receive an email letting you know whether or not you are affected by this staffing reduction. We knew this day was coming, but that does not make it any less difficult—especially for those whose jobs are affected.

The cruise industry's contribution to the global economy declined by more than 50 percent to $63.4 billion in 2020, and experts are concerned that if the current issues continue, "it will be hard for the sector to bounce back from those levels." As noted above, there is no shortage of job applicants and not likely to be anytime soon. By Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. Cruise could face $1.5 million in fines and additional sanctions over its failure to disclose details surrounding the accident, a California agency has said. GM bought the company for more than $1 billion in 2016, just three years after it was founded, but now the once promising business risks death by a thousand cuts following a fateful accident in October that resulted in the loss of its license in California.

The impact was so notable that the woman was thrown into the path of a Cruise robotaxi, which ended up running over the pedestrian. The Cruise robotaxi detected a collision and proceeded to pull over, dragging the woman about 20 feet further. Recently, reports emerged stating that General Motors’ self-driving unit, Cruise LLC, was dismissing nine top executives amid an ongoing probe.

Weeks following the October incident, California's Department of Motor Vehicles effectively shut down the robotaxi service by suspending its license to operate in the state — marking a major blow for Cruise and its corporate parent GM. General Motors absorbed huge losses during the development of the driverless service that was supposed to generate $1 billion in revenue by 2025, with plans to expand beyond San Francisco. In his memo, Cruise President Mo Elshenawy noted that the company has now updated its operating plans.

Previously, Cruise had touted ambitious plans to expand to more cities, offering fully autonomous taxi rides. GM Cruise on Thursday announced internally that it will lay off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce. Cruise layoffs will affect around 24% of its workforce as it works to restructure operations following an accident that forced it to halt U.S. testing, the company said on Thursday. San Francisco residents weren’t initially keen about the state lifting all limitations for Cruise in August. A number protested by placing traffic cones on the cars’ hoods to force them to come to a halt, while the fire department chief said it wasn’t her job to “babysit” the vehicles.