Uber axes nearly a THIRD of its staff: CEO confirms ANOTHER 3,000 job cuts in email to employees – as rides drop 80% due to coronavirus
- Dara Khosrowshahi confirmed to employees on Monday that 45 offices were closing
- The closures mean another 3,000 staff around the world will be laid off
- In the first week of May, the company laid off 3,500 people in a Zoom call
- The additional cuts mean it will have dropped nearly 7,000 from its 22,000 global workforce
- One of the offices closing is in San Francisco and has more than 500 employees
- The cuts do not apply to drivers – they are not considered employees because they are gig workers
- Uber rides were down 80% year on year in April
- The company was already trying to cut costs when the pandemic hit
- It is now looking to dump cash-burning divisions like its self-driving car unit and freight
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi confirmed the company was axing another 3,000 jobs and closing 45 offices in an email to employees on Monday, two weeks after 3,700 people lost their jobs.
The company has now axed 29.5 percent of its office workforce around the world. Drivers are not technically considered employees but are gig workers.
Rides are down 80 percent year on year in April.
Details of the additional cuts were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. CNBC later reported that the number of axed jobs was 3,000.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi confirmed the company was axing 3,000 more jobs and closing 45 offices in an email to employees on Monday
In his email, Khosrowshahi said: ‘Having learned my own personal lesson about the unpredictability of the world from the punch-in-the-gut called COVID-19, I will not make any claims with absolute certainty regarding our future.
‘I will tell you, however, that we are making really, really hard choices now, so that we can say our goodbyes, have as much clarity as we can, move forward, and start to build again with confidence.’
He went on to say the company is in a ‘deep hole’ due to declining business.
‘We’re seeing some signs of a recovery, but it comes off of a deep hole, with limited visibility as to its speed and shape,’ he said.
While Uber Eats was doing well, ‘the business today doesn’t come close to covering our expenses,’ he added.
The company was already trying to cut loss-making divisions when the pandemic hit.