Uber Laying Off 3,300 Corporate Employees in Global Restructuring

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company’s rapid growth has created more management layers and complicated responsibilities. He said some structures that worked when Uber’s businesses were smaller are no longer suitable as the company operates at a much larger scale.

According to the email, the restructuring will reduce Uber’s number of managers by 20%. Some managers will move into individual contributor roles as part of the changes.

Read More:Fintech Startup TabaPay Raises $155M in Funding

Uber also plans to cut the number of teams with only one or two members by 50% and eliminate positions more than seven levels below the CEO. The company will combine its engineering, science, and delivery divisions, while also bringing together its restaurant, retail, and direct delivery operations.

The job cuts will affect both managers and other employees. Uber also plans to combine many of its smaller teams into larger groups, although the company has not said which locations will see the biggest impact.

The changes are aimed at making Uber’s operations simpler and faster while freeing up money to invest in key areas of the business, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

The restructuring comes as Uber increases its investment in autonomous vehicle partnerships and expands its ride-hailing, delivery, and robotaxi businesses.

Uber is also changing its office policy, asking almost all employees to work in person at designated hubs. Remote work will be limited to around 1% of its workforce.

Analysts estimate that the job cuts could help Uber save up to $2 billion a year. Unlike many large technology companies that have reduced staff amid heavy AI spending, Uber had avoided major layoffs since the pandemic.

The latest restructuring will bring Uber’s workforce down to just under 30,000 employees, roughly the same level as before its recent expansion.

“We’ve built new products, expanded into new businesses, reached more consumers and supported more earners, and become a much larger and stronger company. 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,” Khosrowshahi reportedly wrote in the email.

Read More:Boston-Based Elucid Raises $55M in Series D Funding