WALTHAM, Mass. — Boston Dynamics, the Waltham-based robotics design company known for its doglike spot robots, announced dozens of layoffs on Wednesday.
“We have made the extremely difficult decision to reduce our total company workforce by five percent,” a Boston Dynamics spokesperson said in a statement shared with Boston 25 News. “The reductions are company-wide and affect nearly every function throughout the business.”
The company spokesperson noted that the job cuts impact 45 people who will receive severance and benefits continuation.
“We will do everything we can to help them through this challenging transition,” the spokesperson said.
Boston Dynamics says its long-term outlook remains positive with Spot “scaling steadily with industrial and government customers,” and Stretch, a mobile case handler, “proving its value with logistics and retail players,” but money does remain an issue for the company.
“We are burning through cash at a rate that exceeds our commercial progress to date, and we need to streamline our operations and production processes to support sustainable growth,” the spokesperson added, “Today is about making a very difficult short-term decision in service of our longer-term strategy and profitability goals.”
News of the Boston Dynamics layoffs comes as one of the most iconic retailers in New England, L.L. Bean, announced plans to lay off 50-75 employees to combat a “fluctuating retail landscape.”
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