Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Vergee
Tencent-backed EV startup NIO is laying off 62 employees from its Silicon Valley office in San Jose, California, according to a new filing with the state’s Employment Development Department. It’s the Chinese company’s second round of cuts in the US this year, as NIO laid off 70 employees and closed a San Francisco office back in May. NIO began 2019 with 640 employees in Silicon Valley, according to financial filings.
The new round of cuts are part of “an optimization effort,” according to NIO’s director of North American communications, JoAnn Yamani. She also said they affected “every department.” NIO’s presence in the US is primarily focused on R&D and engineering.
Yamani’s comments echo what the company said following the previous…