Charging station manufacturer FLO lays off 15% of its employees

For the third time in less than a year, FLO is reducing its number of employees. This time, the manufacturer of charging stations for electric vehicles in Quebec is laying off nearly 80 people, or 15% of its employees.

“We have unfortunately made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce,” says a spokesperson, Maude Blouin.

The company explains that the “reorganization” aims to better position FLO for its next phase of growth.

The employees laid off Thursday worked in the terminal manufacturer’s Canadian and American offices.

This is the third time in less than a year that FLO has reduced its number of employees, despite receiving numerous subsidies.

The Quebec charging network operator temporarily laid off 8% of its workforce in Shawinigan in December 2023, then laid off 10% of its workforce last May.

The private company refuses to disclose its current number of employees following the 15% reduction in its workforce. There are a little more than 400 still in the service of FLO.

The little story

Founded in 2009, FLO was also named AddÉnergie. The Quebec company has already sold thousands of terminals which offer more than 90,000 charging ports. More than 20% of its revenues come from the United States, where it has had a factory since fall 2022.

The Caisse de dépôt, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and the government of Quebec are among its shareholders.

In April 2023, FLO obtained a favorable loan of $220 million from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to allow it to deploy its own network of charging stations across the country.

The company is the official supplier of Electric Circuit terminals, the electric vehicle charging network in Quebec.

In March 2023, Quebec also awarded it a $6 million grant for its new generation of high-power fast charging stations.

A previous generation terminal can cost more than $100,000 to manufacture and install – a bill that must be amortized over several years for the company.