Uber to axe 10% of its workforce in biggest cuts since pandemic

Uber plans to cut 3,300 jobs in its most sweeping lay-offs since the coronavirus pandemic, as the ride-hailing pioneer axes management roles and ploughs billions of dollars into its robotaxi business.

Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the cuts, which represent about 10 per cent of the company’s workforce, would reduce “complexity” across the business and generate the savings needed to pay for its investments.

The move comes as Uber faces intensifying competition from robotaxi groups such as Alphabet’s Waymo, as well as hurdles in its food delivery business. The group’s shares have fallen 7 per cent this year.

Analysts at Citi said the cuts would generate roughly $825mn in annual savings, with the group expected to funnel more money towards initiatives including the deployment of robotaxis.

“This action is likely enabled, at least in part, by greater efficiencies from Uber’s AI investments,” Ronald Josey, an analyst at the bank, noted.

The reduction in its workforce comes as Uber has pledged to spend more than $10bn to expand its robotaxi network, betting that its more than 200mn customers will give it an edge in the intensifying race to commercialise autonomous vehicles.

Uber plans to operate robotaxi services in at least 15 cities this year, as it races against Waymo and Elon Musk’s Tesla to launch robotaxi services in major markets.

While Uber Eats has gained market share in the UK, France and Germany, it has lost ground in the US to DoorDash, which has widened its market share to about 64 per cent, its highest level since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Uber, by comparison, has a 31 per cent share of the US market, according to YipitData.

Khosrowshahi wrote to staff saying that the company’s explosive growth in recent years had led to “complexity: more layers, more co-ordination, 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”.

Uber is also asking most staff to work from an office, curbing the number of employees allowed to work remotely to only around 1 per cent of its workforce. The San Francisco-based company will also “reinforce compliance” with its hybrid working policy, which requires staff to work in the office three days a week.

Last month Uber said its UK partner, Wayve, had received permits from Transport for London to launch a commercial robotaxi service with a supervising driver behind the wheel.

Uber is also preparing to integrate Berlin-based food delivery group Delivery Hero after agreeing to acquire the group in a €13bn deal in July.