Autonomous trucking company Aurora quietly laid off 3% of its workforce

Aurora, the publicly traded Pittsburgh company that’s gained national attention for its goal to  commercialize autonomous vehicles at scale, has laid off 3% of its employees.

The news comes on the heels of Aurora’s CES appearance, and amid preparations for a 2024 commercial launch.

“As we move toward commercial launch, we recently reviewed the entire organization to ensure we are working as effectively as possible and with the velocity required to achieve our ambitious goals,” Aurora SVP of People Cristopher Barrett told Technical.ly. “Through this process, a limited number of roles were eliminated which impacted 3% of our total workforce. ”

There did not appear to be a public announcement about the layoffs, and it’s unclear exactly how they’ll affect Aurora’s workforce.

The company did not answer Technical.ly’s questions about which departments were affected, where the impacted employees were based, or the total number of laid-off employees. As of April 2023, the company employed around 1,700 people, and cited plans to hire more.

In recent months, Strip District-based Aurora has secured an $853 million raise thanks to a combination of public and private funding, hired its first-ever public safety officer, and finalized the design of its scalable autonomous trucking system, the Aurora Driver hardware, to be manufactured by automotive supplier Continental.

The company also recently announced it would be mass producing autonomous trucks by 2027, and in the fall opened a commercial-ready route for driverless trucks spanning from Dallas to Houston. Cofounder and CEO Chris Urmson was also featured in last year’s “Working: What We Do All Day,” a Barack Obama-fronted Netflix docuseries that explores what modern work means for Americans.

Yet at the start of what’s predicted to be another tough economic year for the venture-backed tech industry, even the most promising companies aren’t immune to being forced to downsize if not outright close. And Pittsburgh has recently seen fewer tech job postings compared to years prior, Technical.ly’s Tech Economy Dashboard has found, indicating a severe hiring slowdown.

Aurora’s leadership cited the industry struggles, and called the decision a necessary step toward the company’s commercial launch.

“During the recent market uncertainty, we have been incredibly thoughtful in our resourcing in order to minimize such actions,” SVP Barrett said. “We are grateful for the contributions of these individuals and are supporting them through this transition.