Uber announces another round of layoffs as financial uncertainty looms

[boeing747]

Uber announces another round of layoffs as financial uncertainty looms

1

Can Uber cut its way to profitability?

By Andrew J. Hawkins@andyjayhawk  Sep 10, 2019, 3:54pm EDT

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook (opens in new window)
• Share this on Twitter (opens in new window)
• SHAREAll sharing options

 

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Uber announced an additional round of layoffs Tuesday, this time from its product and engineering teams. A total of 435 people were let go, or around 8 percent of the ride-hailing company’s entire workforce. The news, which was first reported by TechCrunch, comes a few months after Uber said it would be cutting 400 employees from its marketing division.

This latest round of layoffs comes after a brutal second quarter for Uber, with the company missing its revenue projections and reporting a record $5.2 billion net loss. In August, Uber confirmed that it had put in place a hiring freeze on new software engineers and product managers, but now — even as it cuts hundreds of workers — the company says that freeze has been lifted.

THIS LATEST ROUND OF LAYOFFS COMES AFTER A BRUTAL SECOND QUARTER FOR UBER

“Our hope with these changes is to reset and improve how we work day to day—ruthlessly prioritizing, and always holding ourselves accountable to a high bar of performance and agility,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. “While certainly painful in the moment, especially for those directly affected, we believe that this will result in a much stronger technical organization, which going forward will continue to hire some of the very best talent around the world.”

In July, Uber let go 400 people from its marketing team, many of which worked at regional offices around the world. This latest round also affects regional offices, with 85 percent of those laid off working in the US, 10 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, and 5 percent in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

But even as it cuts costs in its marketing, engineering, and product divisions, Uber is ramping up spending in other areas. The company said it would spend $200 million annually to grow its two-year-old Freight business, which includes hiring up to 2,000 new employees over three years.

Uber also plans to spend resources to counteract the expected passage of a state law in California that would make it more difficult for gig economy companies to classify workers as independent contractors. Uber and rival Lyft say they will join together to spend $60 million to fund a ballot initiative in the state to create a new classification for drivers.

If passed, California’s Assembly Bill 5 could force Uber and Lyft to designate drivers as employees, a move both companies admit could throw them into a financial tailspin. Experts estimate labor costs could increase 30 percent for Uber in the state if AB5 is passed.

[tacobell fan]

oorike offers post chestunnadu like never before. Last one and half year lo they did not gave any offers to riders like they did (or) doing it since IPO.

[boeing747]

Just now, tacobell fan said:

oorike offers post chestunnadu like never before. Last one and half year lo they did not gave any offers to riders like they did (or) doing it since IPO.

Lyft vadu tannukupotunnadu anukunta veedi customer base ni

[NenuEvaru]

Uber operations ki antha karuchu avuthunda ? net loss 5.2 billion dollars kadaniki ..

[tacobell fan]

9 minutes ago, NenuEvaru said:

Uber operations ki antha karuchu avuthunda ? net loss 5.2 billion dollars kadaniki ..

Of course man. Just think about providing a User experience with App, route drivers, pay for the driver screening, uber eats with on-boarding new restaurants, deal with customer/passenger complains. It's hell lot of operations to deal with.

[love4ever]

1 minute ago, tacobell fan said:

Of course man. Just think about providing a User experience with App, route drivers, pay for the driver screening, uber eats with on-boarding new restaurants, deal with customer/passenger complains. It's hell lot of operations to deal with.

bokka lodi vadu $300K istunnadu bay area lo salaries . anthe isthe etlage avutundi

[tacobell fan]

1 minute ago, love4ever said:

bokka lodi vadu $300K istunnadu bay area lo salaries . anthe isthe etlage avutundi

He charge the same on other hand. Surge unnapudu as much as more than 1/2 price like 1 + 1/2 price charge chestadu for riders. Restaurants ki delivery fee. But CA lo antha salaries ivvakapothe top talent won't work for them to beat up the competition. 

[kothavani]

39 minutes ago, love4ever said:

bokka lodi vadu $300K istunnadu bay area lo salaries . anthe isthe etlage avutundi

Dude their  income their business is technology , slaries iyakapothe how can he come up with that compettive app , same salaries are given by lyft and airbnb tooo

[bhaigan]

1 hour ago, boeing747 said:

Lyft vadu tannukupotunnadu anukunta veedi customer base ni

Lyft chala cheap and cars are very clean

[boeing747]

Just now, bhaigan said:

Lyft chala cheap and cars are very clean

clean cars doesnt depend on the company ga Bro, it depends on how the drivers keep it..

ya, cost wise Lyft is cheaper

[tacobell fan]

5 minutes ago, bhaigan said:

Lyft chala cheap and cars are very clean

 

4 minutes ago, boeing747 said:

Lyft is cheaper

Remember Uber also does Ubereats where as Lyft only as Rideshare so their way of beating the competition is to offer cheaper pricing but I always felt Uber is premium service provider in that space given their aggressive penetration to the markets outside US whereas Lyft don't have a big global presence as Uber.