Uber announced an approximate 10 per cent reduction in its workforce, due to a need to simplify its organizational structure and improve decision-making processes, according to a message from CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
The workforce cuts form part of a broader reorganization aimed at addressing operational complexity that the company attributes to rapid revenue growth over the past five years.
Uber stated that the growth led to coordination challenges and fragmented ownership within teams and to counter this, the company plans to reduce roles primarily focused on coordination, consolidate managerial responsibilities, and eliminate micro-teams.
The number of employees situated seven or more layers below the CEO is expected to decrease by 20 per cent, with the presence of micro-teams shrinking by nearly half.
One of the key operational changes involves consolidating Uber’s delivery operations teams. The existing three teams supporting restaurants, retail, and direct services will be merged into single-threaded teams at the global, regional, and country levels.
Uber characterizes this move as a strategy to cut overlap and clarify accountability, enabling general managers to control profit and loss (P&L) responsibilities more directly. In the technology division, Core Services Engineering and Science teams will also merge.
The restructuring includes a revised global location strategy emphasizing co-location.
Uber plans to centralize global teams in New York and San Francisco, regional teams in selected hubs, local teams in country hubs, and technology teams in designated tech hubs.
The company has asked the majority of remote employees to return to the office, with only about 1 per cent expected to remain fully remote. A hybrid work policy requiring employees to be in-office three days per week will remain in effect.
Key details regarding which roles will be eliminated, the specific locations affected, and the timing of the workforce reductions were not disclosed in the internal communication.
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