Virgin Orbit, UKs famous rocket company, has decided to lay off 85% of its workforce due to lack of capital/investment. Virgin Orbit had been looking for opportunities to secure investments to run its operations successfully but the breaking news is that the company has failed to attract new investments and to ensure survival at this point, it will be laying off a huge chunk of employees permanently.
This news came as a huge shock to employees as the number of individuals getting impacted by this move is greater than 600. Branson's rocket legacy has been put on hold and the future of Virgin Orbit is in danger. In the beginning of 2023, the company initiated a mission to launch a satellite in space. Unfortunately, luck was not on side on Branson and Virgin Orbit failed the mission.
It was reported on BBC that the company's shares fell by more than 44% on Thursday, adding up to the already severe damage that has been pushing it to the edge.
Layoffs come with a cost and the current financial position of Virgin Orbit is weak. To overcome the financial burden expected from laying off 85% workforce, Richard Branson's investment organization has decided to fund Virgin Orbit. More than 10M dollars will be funded to Virgin Orbit by Virgin Investments in order to cover the costs of the layoff.
The total expected cost of the layoff is around $15M. It seems like the future of Virgin is quite shaky. Senior management of the company has suspended operations with immediate effect and no one knows when the operations will begin again (if ever). The company has been unable to produce profits as a public entity since the beginning of its operations.
As at this point, it is unclear as to where the company stands in terms of its future security and how will it survive, keeping in mind the deteriorating financial environment globally and the rising costs. Virgin orbit has been in business since 2017 and is trying hard to survive. Let's hope for a positive end result!