AUGUST 12, 2024 — BANKRUPTCY!
SunPower has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after announcing plans to sell portions of its operations to Complete Solaria for $45 million. The company aims to sell its existing operations and assets as quickly as possible to pay down its outstanding debts, then it plans to wind down any unsold business operations.
AUGUST 3, 2024 — BRINK OF BANKRUPTCY?
As part of a company-wide restructuring, the company has announced plans to lay off as many as 290 California workers, including 182 employees at the company’s Richmond headquarters. Up to 20 are threatened in Berkeley, 19 in North Hollywood, 18 in Ontario, 16 in Elk Grove, 13 in Santee, and 11 each in San Jose and Anaheim.
A company spokesperson noted, “As a result of recent financial circumstances, the Company expects it will have to terminate the employment of certain employees.”
APRIL 26, 2024 — REORGANIZATION WITH 1,000+ LAYOFFS
The company announced that it will close its SunPower Residential Installation facilities and SunPower Direct sales unit.
Approximately 1,000+ employees are targeted for layoffs as the company repositions toward third-party sales.
According to Principal Executive Officer Tom Werner…
Team,
I’m writing to share difficult news with you as we implement changes across our organization in the days and weeks to come. To position SunPower for the future, we need to achieve financial viability, which includes simplifying our business structure, transitioning away from areas where we have been unable to sustain profitable operations, and improving financial controls.
As such, we are moving to a low fixed-cost model that we believe we will be able to better flex when the market is up or down. Specifically, we are winding down our SunPower Residential Installation (SPRI) locations and closing SunPower Direct sales. We are also reducing our workforce to better align our business with our new focus. With this shift, we will reduce our workforce by approximately 1,000 people in the coming days and weeks.
While we worked hard to avoid this outcome, the market has been slower to recover than we initially expected. Additionally, we have dedicated resources to improving our financial controls, and will continue to do so. We believe this shift in our strategy is necessary to safeguard the company’s future.
What this means for you
We will inform those of you who are impacted via your personal emails starting at 6:15am PT via an email from AskHR. In some cases, we will host subsequent team meetings to provide more clarity on next steps and what’s ahead.
Some of our impacted team members will depart today, and others will remain on with us for a period of time to help facilitate the transition for our customers. For those talented and devoted colleagues who are departing, we are deeply grateful for your lasting contributions. We are offering a competitive separation package to assist our former colleagues in their transition.
For those staying at SunPower, we recognize this is hard news to receive and will take some time to process. Your ELT members will meet with you today, and we will host an all-employee meeting later this week to provide time for more discussion and questions.
Our path ahead
Through these transitions, we remain committed to delivering high-quality, affordable clean energy systems that meet the unique needs of families across the country. We are dedicated to doing this in a manner that aims to ensure a positive experience for our customers on their solar journey.
After a short transition period, all pipeline operations from pre-installation through system activation will be handled by Blue Raven Solar, full-service installation partners, and our trusted network of SunPower-certified dealers — all who meet our standards of integrity, design, quality, and customer service. As we make this transition over the next month, we are dedicated to handling our customer experience with the highest levels of care and with minimal impact on timelines.
Moving forward, SunPower will focus our efforts on serving our best-in-class Dealer Network and installation partners. We plan to continue to invest in our New Homes business, which continues to grow. We will still manage ongoing customer service needs, including operations and maintenance (O&M), and will continue to honor our Complete Confidence warranty.
We appreciate the ongoing support from our employees, partners and customers as we move SunPower into its next era. Even on our toughest days, I know together we can change the way our world is powered.
Regards,
Tom Werner
Principal Executive Officer
APRIL 2, 2022 — 89 EMPLOYEES IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA WILL BE LAID OFF
The company has announced it’s laying off 89 headquarters and research-and-development center workers in San Jose, California as the company continues to focus exclusively on the residential solar market after selling off its commercial and industrial business.
JANUARY 8, 2021 — HILLSBORO, OREGON PLANT TO CLOSE WITH 170 LAYOFFS
The company has announced that it will be closing its former SolarWorld factory in Hillsboro, Oregon which will impact 170 employees. Operations will end in March 2021 with full plant closure in June 2021,
According to SunPower CEO Tom Werner, “We made the difficult but necessary decision to close our plant after careful evaluation and the change in focus of our business over recent months. We recognize how hard this is for all the employees impacted and are dedicated to helping them through this transition.”
The company continues to struggle against state-subsidized foreign solar panels and components.
JANUARY 4, 2020 — COMPANY SPLITS INTO TWO INDEPENDENT COMPANIES WITH 160 LAYOFFS
San Jose, California-based SunPower Corporation. a designer and manufactures silicon photovoltaic cells and solar panels and is owned by French multinational energy company Total S.A., has announced it will be executing a reduction in force that will impact up to 160 jobs.
The decision was driven by a restructuring plan that would see the company separated into “two independent, complementary, strategically-aligned and publicly-traded companies – SunPower and Maxeon Solar Technologies. Each company will focus on distinct offerings built on extensive experience across the solar value chain. SunPower will continue as the leading North American distributed generation, storage, and energy services company and the newly-formed Maxeon Solar will be the leading global technology innovator, manufacturer, and marketer of premium solar panels.
According to Tom Werner, president, and CEO of SunPower, “We believe that the solar industry is entering a period of extended growth where success will be driven by value chain specialization, technology innovation and economies of scale. This new structure and investment will create two focused businesses, each with unique expertise to excel in their part of the value chain."
Maxeon Solar Technologies, which will be based in Singapore and continue to manufacture solar panels offshore in companies located in France, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Philippines. The new company will be partially funded with a $300 million investment from a Chinese manufacturer, Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor.
SunPower will continue to focus on the sales, installation, maintenance, and management of solar energy devices. The company laid off a similar number of employees in 2018 and estimates that restructuring activities will continue through mid-2023 according to a financial filing with the Securities Exchange Commission.
MARCH 8, 2018 — Original Post…
Solar power system designer and manufacturer SunPower has announced that they will be laying off up to 250 employees, reportedly well-paying research and development and marketing positions to compensate for increased costs related to President Trump’s new 30% tariff on imported solar panels and components. This is before President Trump announced the imposition of new tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%).
According to SunPower CEO Tom Werner, “with the new tariffs, SunPower will lose $50 million this year, about one-sixth of the company's overall operating costs.” According to Werner, the company fears that next year's losses will be even more staggering, predicting the firm could lose closer to $100 million.”
"We'll have to cut costs, even more, we just don’t have the money. A cursory review of our balance sheet would see there is not sufficient money which would mean decreased American investment — we’d focus on foreign markets where we don’t have to pay a tariff.” “Werner said the shift to overseas would take jobs with it.”
If SunPower’s request for a tariff waiver is not granted, the result “will likely result in more job cuts and a shift toward more investment in foreign markets.” SunPower is mostly owned by France’s Total, one of the seven ‘super-major,” and the fourth publicly-listed energy company in the world. Total is also dealing with a prolonged downturn in the oil and gas industry.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?
