Uber plans 10% workforce cut to trim management layers

Business Recorder reported that Uber Technologies will cut roughly 3,300 jobs, about 10 per cent of its staff, as part of a restructuring announced on Wednesday. The aim is to remove layers of management, combine teams and bring costs down. The reduction would be the company's largest since May 2020, when about 6,700 positions were eliminated during the pandemic.

The move follows a weak year for the share price, which has slipped close to 8 per cent and lagged the S&P 500, as investors worry that self-driving ride-hailing firms such as Waymo could erode Uber's leading position in North America. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the cuts would reduce complexity that had slowed decisions and created coordination roles. He did not attribute the job losses to artificial intelligence.

Uber also said it cut the number of staff seven or more reporting levels below the chief executive by 20 per cent and reduced small teams of one or two direct reports by almost half. Global teams will be concentrated in New York and San Francisco, most remote workers will be asked to relocate, and fully remote roles will be capped at about 1 per cent of staff. Shares rose about 2 per cent in premarket trading after Bloomberg News first reported the news.