Canoo Unexpectedly Furloughs OKC Factory Workers Amid Financial Uncertainty

Several workers at the Canoo plant in Oklahoma City are out of a job ahead of the holiday season.

The company says it's temporary, but U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings reveal a tough financial year.

Canoo is an electric vehicle startup company that first brought operations to Oklahoma at the beginning of 2023, promising to create 1,400 jobs and a fleet of 1,000 electric vehicles for the state.

In November 2023, the company unveiled three vehicles made inside the Oklahoma plant, but little has been shared about progress on the rest of the fleet.

On October 31, 2024, the company implemented a reduction in factory staff and furloughed 30 workers.

The company sent a statement to News 9 regarding the furloughs:

“Canoo has made the difficult decision to temporarily reduce our workforce in Oklahoma City by furloughing 23% of our factory workers for a period of twelve weeks as part of a broader realignment of our North American operations. This reduction is a continuation of our efforts to consolidate our U.S. workforce which includes redistributing some of our tenured and skilled employees to our Oklahoma City and Texas facilities as part of our comprehensive plan and supply chain harmonization to prepare the company for the next phase of growth. We are committed to supporting our 30 impacted workers in Oklahoma City during this challenging time and will provide necessary resources to assist them.”

The company had been making strides to meet Oklahoma's requirements to qualify for state tax incentives.

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce addressed the situation in a statement to News 9:

“All Oklahoma Department of Commerce incentive programs are performance-based. Companies do not receive taxpayer dollars until they meet certain requirements, and safeguards are built into contracts that allow the state to claw back money if a company falls below its performance threshold. The Department of Commerce has been in contact with Canoo and is working to ensure that all performance requirements are met.”

It’s unclear so far if Canoo will have to pay back any money to the state.

Additionally, the company’s recent SEC filing reveals more financial struggles.

It shows Canoo secured $12 million in revolving credit to provide working capital and in late October, the company's CFO and general counsel both resigned.

Amidst the furloughs, workers were originally not guaranteed a continuation in health insurance coverage.

Days later, the company added 30 days of coverage for furloughed workers.

Canoo sent News 9 a separate statement regarding this issue:

“We are committed to supporting our impacted workers during this challenging time and will provide necessary resources to assist them. Continuing our commitment to our impacted workers and in reflection on the feedback we received, we acknowledge the oversight in health care coverage during this furlough period . In quick response, our current leadership team is extending health coverage at the same level each furloughed employee had as of October 31, at no cost to them, in recognition of their service to the company. We are actively reaching out to each furloughed employee today to communicate this benefit and to ensure that their coverage remains active through November 30. This demonstrates our commitment to our furloughed employees and our ability to swiftly take corrective action.”

The 12-week furlough period would put workers back at the plant in late January 2025.