More than 3,000 jobs are being cut at Uber as part of an Uber global workforce restructuring that the company says will strip out management layers and redirect spending towards its core operations. The cuts amount to roughly 10% of the company’s total staff, returning headcount to levels last seen in 2021.
Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi told employees in a company email that Uber had grown quickly but in doing so had accumulated too many layers and small teams that were slowing decision-making. He said the changes would put the company in a better position for its ‘biggest opportunities ahead of us’.
How deep the cuts will go
The reductions affect both managers and non-managers. Uber said it plans to fold many of its smallest teams into larger groups, though the company has not confirmed which locations will be most affected.
The structural changes go beyond a simple headcount reduction. According to Yahoo Finance, teams of one or two direct reports will shrink by roughly half, while employees more than seven reporting layers from the chief executive will be reduced by 20%. The intent is to produce a flatter organisation where decisions travel a shorter distance from the top.
The restructuring brings Uber’s global workforce back to just under 30,000 people, roughly where it stood before its most recent period of expansion. Analysts said the layoffs could generate up to $2bn in annual savings.
Khosrowshahi described the goal as making Uber ‘simpler’ and ‘faster’, freeing up money to reinvest in areas the company considers central to its future. Shares rose nearly 2% after the announcement was made, with investors appearing to welcome the proposals.
Uber global workforce restructuring reflects a shift in strategy
Unlike many large technology companies that have cut jobs in recent times amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence, Uber had avoided major reductions since the pandemic. The scale of the current changes makes it one of the company’s largest restructurings in years.
At the same time, Uber is tightening its office policy. The company is asking nearly all employees to work in person at designated hubs and is limiting remote roles to about 1% of its workforce. The combination of the headcount reduction and the office requirement signals a broad shift in how Uber expects its business to operate day to day.
Part of what that freed-up resource is meant to fund is an expanded push into autonomous vehicles. The restructuring comes as Uber steps up its investment in autonomous vehicle partnerships and continues to grow its ride-hailing, delivery, and robotaxi operations.
That autonomous push is already visible on the ground. According to CBT News, Waymo vehicles are already available through the Uber app in Atlanta and Austin, with Uber responsible for the charging, cleaning, and inspections of those cars. The arrangement illustrates how Uber is positioning itself less as a company that employs drivers and more as a platform connecting passengers to whatever vehicle, human or autonomous, can serve them.
Uber’s global head office is in San Francisco. The company has not set out a timeline for completing the restructuring, but the moves are already under way. Employees in affected roles are being notified, and the consolidation of smaller teams into larger groups is expected to follow. How the changes land across Uber’s international operations remains to be confirmed, with the company yet to disclose which countries or offices will bear the largest share of departures.
What is clear is the direction Uber’s leadership has chosen: a leaner structure, a harder push into autonomous technology, and a workforce that, at just under 30,000, is being asked to do more with fewer layers between the front line and the chief executive’s office.
