Struggling electric van startup Canoo has given its remaining employees “mandatory unpaid leave” until at least the end of the year, according to an email obtained by TechCrunch.
The company told employees that Canoo’s systems would be locked out Friday evening, according to the email. They said the benefits would last until the end of December.
The email was sent just days after the company announced it was laying off nearly 100 employees and ceasing to operate its assembly facility in Oklahoma due to a lack of funding. It’s unclear how many people will remain after those cuts. The company and its CEO, Tony Aquila, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Canoo is coming off a difficult year. We recently closed the Los Angeles office that served as our headquarters. It lost a number of executives, including its chief technology officer (CTO), chief financial officer (CFO) and general counsel. The company reported that it had only $700,000 in the bank in mid-November.
