Lawrenceville-based autonomous trucking startup Locomation Inc. has issued a series of furloughs for some of its workers amid the tech-driven downturn seen across the country over the better part of this year.
Finch Fulton, the vice president of policy and strategy at Locomation, declined to disclose how many staffers the company furloughed but noted that the roles affected by the furloughs are those "not related to the go-to-market" strategy of the company. Additionally, the roles seeing furloughs were not concentrated in any one department.
"It was targeted because we're — in the face of everything going on with the economy and everything — we just had to reduce the company's overall cost structure," Fulton said. "Wherever necessary, we just had to take steps to do that. … It's the reality that a lot of tech companies are facing."
While those who are furloughed will no longer receive a salary from the company, they will continue to receive health care benefits from Locomation. The company will also maintain the ability to recall these workers quickly as a result of the furlough status if an opportunity to do so becomes available. Locomation doesn't have a specific timeline on if or when these roles might return, however.
Fulton said the company is expecting that the furloughs will not impact Locomation's delivery of its autonomous trucking platform, which is set to begin as a soft launch in 2023.
In July 2022, Locomation shared that its total workforce count stood at about 140 employees, 100 of whom worked out of its Pittsburgh offices. Fulton said he didn't know the current employee count but assumed the ratio remained the same following the furloughs as the company didn't limit the roles affected to a specific location. In addition to Pittsburgh, Locomation also conducts testing of its autonomous trucking technology in Ohio.
The furloughs at Locomation come a few weeks after another Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle startup reduced its workforce. In July, Strip District-baed Argo AI LLC cut its workforce by 150 people, about 5% of its overall headcount. Another Pittsburgh autonomous robotics company, Seegrid Corp., cut its workforce by 90 workers, or a decline of about 25% overall, in August.
Workforce alterations in Pittsburgh's tech scene are following that of a larger national trend. Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company to Facebook and Instagram, recently issued a companywide hiring freeze. That followed news earlier this summer from Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. as well as Microsoft Corp. and Twitter Inc. that all announced hiring freezes following months of new job postings.
