Uber is eliminating 23% of the jobs in its People and Places division, which covers human resources, recruitment, workplace facilities and culture. The restructuring is designed to create a “more connected, modern, operationally excellent organization,” according to Jill Hazelbaker, who was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer of the ride-sharing service last month.
“As we’ve grown, parts of the organization have become too complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities, unclear ownership and teams operating too far from the businesses and partners they support,” she wrote in a memo to the affected employees.
The layoffs affect less than 1% of Uber’s global workforce of around 34,000 employees, the company said, although the exact number of workers affected or where they are located was not disclosed. Uber previously reduced the size of its recruiting team in 2023, Bloomberg reported, a move that also affected its online grocery unit, Cornershop.
“Changes are necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the People team and the enormous potential ahead of us,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told company leadership, according to CNBC.
See also: HR lessons to learn from Uber’s suspension of its DEI chief
Uber rules out AI as a factor in layoffs
An Uber spokesperson explicitly ruled out AI as a factor in these job cuts, according to Bloomberg. However, the company is expanding AI use internally, with AI coding assistants reaching 95% monthly adoption among engineers, Yahoo Finance reported. To manage costs, Uber has imposed tiered spending caps on employee AI tools, with a base monthly limit of $1,500 per employee and higher limits approved for business needs.
Meanwhile, remote-work arrangements previously granted to HR staff are being rescinded, with those employees now expected to be in the office at least three days a week under a policy that has been in place since last June.
The latest staff reductions come during a period of strong financial performance. First-quarter gross bookings totaled $53.7 billion, which were up 25% year-over-year. Investors are keeping an eye on how the staff reduction may affect the company’s overall performance.
“The cut to senior HR and workplace roles suggests Uber is reworking how it supports hiring, performance and culture as it refines its broader business model,” according to Simply Wall St. “Readers may want to watch how these changes affect retention, hiring pace and execution on existing priorities such as ride hailing, delivery and ongoing technology investment, rather than viewing the shift in isolation.”
Hazelbaker told CNBC that her goal is to arrive at a “more connected, modern, operationally excellent organization.”
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