Uber plans to cut its global workforce by about 10% as part of a major restructuring, slashing about 3,300 corporate jobs.
The boss of the US-based ride-hailing app, Dara Khosrowshahi, told staff Wednesday that the changes would create a “simpler and faster” business by cutting layers of management and merging teams. Uber also plans to ask more employees to work in the office.
Uber, which has its headquarters in San Francisco, did not specify how many roles would be affected in each location that it has offices, including in London. The cuts are the largest since 2020 when Uber laid off 6,700 people in response to a major downturn in rides during the Covid pandemic.
Staff affected have been notified, but some countries will have their own local process to follow, according to the firm.
Khosrowshahi said in his message that Uber had been growing in the past five years and the business was performing well.
“But that growth has also brought complexity: more layers, more coordination, more fragmented ownership, and in some cases structures that made sense when businesses were smaller but no longer serve us well at our current scale,” he said.
“The changes we’re making today are designed to do two things: make Uber simpler and faster, and create more capacity to invest in our future.”
Uber is also asking the majority of its staff to come into an office, meaning less than about 1% of employees will be working remotely. The move will reinforce a hybrid work policy which requires three days a week in the office.
Khosrowshahi laid out organisational changes including combining operational and tech teams, and reducing the number of “micro-teams” – where one or two employees report to a single manager – by nearly 50%.
The number of employees who sit more than seven layers from the chief executive has also been cut by 20%.
“The decisions we’re making today are difficult, but they will help us build an even stronger Uber for the years ahead,” Khosrowshahi said.
Uber is preparing to launch self-driving taxis for the first time on UK roads after partnering with the robotaxi business Wayve and being granted approval by Transport for London last month. The company plans to spend $10bn toward developing its autonomous vehicle business, aiming to form a grip on the burgeoning market of self-driving.
Uber also recently struck a $14.8bn deal to acquire the German company Delivery Hero as it jockeys for dominance in the global food delivery market. The company’s UberEats service faces intense competition from rival apps such as DoorDash.
Uber expanded rapidly after launched in San Francisco in 2010, and is now valued at more than $150bn.
