Uber Plans 10% Job Cuts as Company Undergoes Global Restructuring
Uber is undergoing a massive restructuring under its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, which would see the company cutting around 3,300 jobs globally, including in India. Uber’s layoffs will impact around 10% of the staff, and management roles will be slashed by about 20%.
Approximately 3,300 employees will be laid off by Uber Technologies worldwide, including in India. In an effort to streamline the company's management structure, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took this measure. Ridesharing, delivery, and driverless vehicles are some of the development areas that the CEO plans to reallocate funds to.
The layoffs will lower the number of managers at Uber by approximately 20% and affect around 10% of the company's worldwide workforce. A few supervisors will transition into more of a role of individual contributor. In an email sent to all employees on 2 September, Khosrowshahi announced the reorganisation. He said that the organisational structures, several tiers of management, and dispersed ownership that had resulted from Uber's fast growth over the previous five years were insufficient.
Uber’s Reorganisation Eliminating Various Roles
As a result of the reorganisation, the amount of "micro-teams" consisting of just one or two workers will decrease by around 50%. Additionally, the email states that the number of employees reporting more than seven levels below the CEO will be reduced. A portion of Uber's engineering, science, and delivery departments are also merging. The adjustments include merging its three operations teams, which handle restaurants, retail, and its white-label delivery business.
Approximately 1% of employees are projected to continue working remotely, as the corporation tightens its workplace policies. This move comes as Uber is putting more emphasis on face-to-face collaboration at strategic office locations. Uber is laying off workers in an effort to focus on its core businesses and its goals of developing driverless vehicles. The business plans to invest over USD 10 billion in robotaxi partnerships in the next years as it aims to become a platform for autonomous car services. With the exception of countries where Uber will adhere to the necessary local procedure, Khosrowshahi stated in the email that all individuals whose roles have been impacted have previously notified.
Uber Focussing on Increasing its Revenue
Uber is to reinvest the savings it generates from the restructuring in growth, innovation, and capabilities that are crucial to its longer-term strategy, according to Khosrowshahi. This includes investments in drivers, couriers, and merchants. This comes after Uber cut back on customer support and HR staff in a more focused manner earlier this year. Additionally, in May, the business announced its intention to reduce the rate of employment.
This is in contrast to the majority of large tech businesses that have recently reshaped their workforces around AI and implemented massive layoffs. Nevertheless, since the COVID-19 epidemic, Uber had mostly refrained from implementing widespread cuts. The most recent layoffs will reduce Uber's staff to a little under 30,000, which is around the same as its employment in 2021. Even while Uber has been increasingly utilising AI across its operations, Khosrowshahi did not directly attribute the layoffs to the technology.
