Uber to cut 10% jobs globally: Around 3,400 employees could be affected

New Delhi: Uber Technologies is set to reduce its global workforce by about 10 per cent, affecting roughly 3,400 employees, as the ride-hailing giant undertakes a broad organisational restructuring to simplify operations and redirect resources towards growth and innovation.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced the workforce reduction in a memo to employees, saying the company was eliminating organisational layers, simplifying team structures and changing its global location strategy.

"As a result, we will be reducing the size of our team by about 10 per cent. Everyone whose role has been affected has already been notified, except in countries where we will follow the required local process," he wrote.

According to Uber's annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the company and its subsidiaries employed approximately 34,000 people worldwide. Its operations span more than 70 countries and over 15,000 cities. A 10 per cent reduction based on that headcount would affect around 3,400 jobs.

Uber says India remains key market

The restructuring will also affect employees in India, although the company said it remains committed to expanding its presence in the country.

"Globally, we are making organisational changes to remove layers so we can move faster. As part of these changes, we will be saying goodbye to some valued team members in India, whom we will support through this transition. Our commitment to India as a key market and our ambition to innovate locally for riders and drivers remain unchanged – in fact, we are expanding India's strategic footprint by strengthening our regional operations here to drive our mobility business across Asia-Pacific," an Uber India spokesperson told PTI.

The company said its decision comes after significant expansion over the past five years. Khosrowshahi noted that Uber's revenue has nearly tripled during that period as it entered new businesses and markets.

However, the rapid growth has also resulted in greater organisational complexity, including additional management layers, increased coordination and fragmented ownership, he said.

Khosrowshahi said the restructuring is intended to make the company faster while creating additional capacity to invest in its future businesses.

"We have the chance to bring Uber to hundreds of millions more people; to invest even more in drivers, couriers and merchants; and to innovate across our core businesses and build the autonomous future. To do those things, we need to make deliberate choices about where we put our people, our time, and our capital.

"The changes we're making today are designed to do two things: make Uber simpler and faster and create more capacity to invest in our future. A leaner organisation will mean clearer ownership, faster decisions, and more time spent building rather than coordinating," Khosrowshahi said, adding that the restructuring will also generate savings that the company intends to reinvest in growth and innovation.

As part of the changes, Uber is eliminating roles primarily focused on coordination and reducing management layers by expanding the responsibilities of managers.

The company said it has particularly targeted "micro-teams" consisting of managers with only one or two direct reports. Uber has reduced the number of employees positioned seven or more layers below the CEO by 20 per cent and cut the number of micro-teams by nearly 50 per cent.

Delivery and technology teams to be combined

Uber is also restructuring its Delivery Operations division by bringing together three separate teams covering Restaurants, Retail and Direct into single-threaded teams at global, regional and country levels.

In the technology division, Core Services Engineering and Science teams are also being combined.

"Bringing the P&Ls together under single owners will reduce overlap, clarify accountability, and allow GMs to allocate capital more efficiently and effectively based on their strategic imperatives."

The company is additionally consolidating jobs into a smaller number of designated "hub" cities.

Global teams will be based in New York and San Francisco, while regional, country and technology teams will be concentrated in selected regional and technology hubs.

Uber tightens remote work policy

Uber said the vast majority of its remote employees will be asked to move to an office. Going forward, only about 1 per cent of its workforce is expected to remain fully remote.

The company will retain its existing hybrid work policy, under which employees are required to work from an office three days a week.

Khosrowshahi acknowledged that the restructuring would be difficult for employees affected by the cuts.

"This wasn't a decision we made lightly, because it will have a real impact on our teammates and friends who have worked hard for Uber," he wrote.

He said the changes were intended to reflect how Uber is organised and where the company is prioritising resources, rather than being a judgment on the contribution of individual employees.

Uber CEO's recent India visit

Earlier this year, Khosrowshahi visited India, where he met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

During the visit, he said the number of people earning through Uber's platform in India had quadrupled since 2022.

He also met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and discussed Uber's plans to expand its Centre of Excellence in Visakhapatnam.