Virgin Hyperloop “Changes Direction”, Axes Half Of US Staff To Focus On Freight

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop has sputtered to a crawl as the company pivots from developing a high-speed transport system for humans to shipping freight and has slashed half its workforce, according to former employees who spoke with Financial Times. 

The US-based company announced via a video conference call Friday that it would lay off 111 employees and refocus efforts to design experimental transport systems in pressure tubes to zip cargo around the US at 670 mph. 

Two ex-employees said their job losses were “definitely not expected.” 

The futuristic transportation company responded to FT and said the transition will “allow the company to respond in a more agile and nimble way and in a more cost-efficient manner.”

It said “changing direction” will allow it to alleviate “global supply chain issues and all the changes due to Covid.” 

Another former senior employee said that a reorganization of the company led to a “massive talent flight,” adding “morale is low and there is no confidence in the new direction.”

The company has tested humans in a transport pod through vacuum tubes down a 500-meter test track in Nevada, reaching 100 mph. This year, a new test facility will begin construction at a former coal mine site in Tucker and Grant Counties, West Virginia, with safety certification by 2025 and commercial operations by 2030. 

FT also notes the shakeup comes as the company is considering going public via SPAC. As for Branson’s other high-tech transportation company, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc, an aerospace and space travel company, shares have tumbled more than 86% since last June’s high. 

Freight companies using Hyperloops in the future to send goods across the country faster than an air freighter makes a whole lot more sense when compared to Elon Musk’s underground tunnel network for electric cars. Billionaires and their whacky ideas…