NewsStocksUber to cut about 3,300 jobs in restructuring effort

Uber to cut about 3,300 jobs in restructuring effort

Author: Fox Business Markets·

Key Takeaways

  • Uber is eliminating about 3,300 positions, representing roughly 10% of its workforce.
  • Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said the restructuring is meant to simplify the company, speed decisions and create room for future investment.
  • Uber said it has cut the number of employees seven or more management layers below the CEO by 20% and reduced micro-teams by nearly 50%.
  • The company plans to concentrate teams in fewer hubs, including New York and San Francisco, and expects only about 1% of employees to remain remote.
  • Uber will continue requiring employees to work from an office three days a week.
Uber to cut about 3,300 jobs in restructuring effort

Uber is cutting roughly 10% of its workforce, or about 3,300 jobs, as part of a broader effort to streamline operations, the company announced Wednesday.

In a memo to employees, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber is removing management layers, simplifying teams and refining where those teams are based.

"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," Khosrowshahi said.

"A leaner organization will mean clearer ownership, faster decisions, and more time spent building rather than coordinating," he said. "It will also generate savings that we intend to reinvest in growth, innovation, and the capabilities that will matter most over the coming years."

Khosrowshahi said Uber’s revenue has nearly tripled over the last roughly five years, but that growth has also brought "more complexity."

"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 move comes as large technology companies continue to focus on leaner operating structures after rapid expansion in recent years, with management layers and team fragmentation often becoming targets in reorganizations. For Uber, the changes are aimed at reducing internal complexity as the company scales across ride-hailing, delivery and other businesses.

As part of the restructuring, Uber said it has reduced the number of employees sitting seven or more layers below the CEO by 20% and has cut the number of "micro-teams" — those with only one to two direct reports — by nearly 50%.

"The outcome is a simpler org chart geared toward building versus managing," Khosrowshahi said.

The company is also combining some teams where "fragmentation was creating duplication and slowing decisions," according to Khosrowshahi.

Uber said it will concentrate teams in a smaller number of key hubs, including New York and San Francisco. The company is asking the majority of its remote workers to relocate to an office and said that, going forward, only about 1% of employees will be remote.

Uber will continue requiring employees to work from an office three days per week, according to Khosrowshahi.

"I realize this is a lot of change, but we decided it was better to make one big shift rather than multiple small ones," Khosrowshahi said. "We also know organizational changes can be hugely distracting, and our job is to create an environment that allows you to focus and do your best work. With these decisions now made, our focus is on the future."