Uber says cutting 3,000 jobs and trimming invesment

Uber on Monday announced it is cutting a quarter of its global workforce and trimming investment to survive the financial hit to its business from the coronavirus pandemic.

The San Francisco-based company is laying off about 3,000 people and stopping some investments unrelated to its core ride-share and delivery businesses, according to chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.

“Given the dramatic impact of the pandemic, and the unpredictable nature of any eventual recovery, we are concentrating our efforts on our core mobility and delivery platforms and resizing our company to match the realities of our business,” Khosrowshahi said.

Overall staff cuts include layoffs earlier this month at Uber recruiting and customer support teams, and are part of an overall reorganization keeping ride-share and Eats restaurant-meal delivery services priorities at the company.

“We are making these hard choices now so that we can move forward and begin to build again with confidence, Khosrowshahi said.

Job cuts are to be spread across Uber operations around the world.

Uber planned to provide laid-off workers with at least 10 weeks pay and continue providing health benefits through the end of this year.

Uber is closing or consolidating offices at various locations, including merging two facilities in its home base of San Francisco. The company also planned to close its office in Singapore in the coming year and relocate its Asia-Pacific base of operations.

Teams at Uber are being reorganized, with Andrew Macdonald to head a “mobility” team that will include transit and Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty taking charge of a “delivery” team.

Uber is closing its AI Labs special projects team.

“We are taking a hard look at our overall cost structure and our other bets to ensure our core business of Rides and Eats emerges stronger than ever,” Khosrowshahi said on Uber’s recent quarterly earnings call.

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© Agence France-Presse

/AFP