Pittsburgh Facility To Lay Off 145 People This Summer

PITTSBURGH, PA — A company that specializes in making driverless vehicles will lay off approximately 145 workers at its Pittsburgh facility, according to a notice filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor.

In a WARN notice filed with the state, Motional AD Inc. said the layoffs would affect employees at its facility at 4427 Lytle St. The layoffs will happen between July 6 and Sept. 1.

Employees affected by the layoffs were placed on paid leave this week and will remain on that status through the layoff date unless recalled during the notice period, the company said in the notice.

Founded as a joint venture between automotive technology expert Aptiv and Hyundai Motor Group, Motional is based in Boston and has in Nevada, California, Singapore and Seoul.

In a statement sent to PennLive.com, Motional's president and CEO said staff reductions were affecting employees companywide.

"In collaboration with Motional’s shareholders, we’ve updated our strategic plan to focus resources on the continued development and generalization of our core driverless technology, while de-emphasizing near-term commercial deployments and ancillary activities," Karl Iagnemma told PennLive.com. "This updated strategy requires a streamlining of our teams, resulting in a reduction in staff across the business."

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act is a federal law designed to protect workers, their families and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of a covered-business closing and covered-business mass layoff.