Uber Reorganizes Workforce
Uber Restructures People and Places Division, Cutting 23% of Jobs to Simplify Operations
Uber announced it is cutting 23% of jobs in its People and Places division, which covers human resources, recruitment, workplace facilities, and organizational culture. The cuts affect less than 1% of Uber’s roughly 34,000 employees globally and primarily target senior roles, while the company said the move is meant to simplify an overly complex structure with overlapping responsibilities. The reorganization is being led by newly promoted President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Jill Hazelbaker, who said teams needed clearer ownership and closer alignment with the business and partners they support. Uber also said some HR employees who had remote work authorization will now be required to work from offices three days a week under a policy that took effect last June. Despite the layoffs, Uber emphasized it is still hiring for more than 800 open roles, including work related to robotaxi technology, and it said artificial intelligence deployment is not driving the decision.
Key Points
Uber said the People and Places cuts are being led by Jill Hazelbaker after she took on the expanded leadership role just three weeks earlier, with her broadened portfolio also including safety operations in addition to People and Places.
Hazelbaker wrote in an internal memo that, “As we've grown, parts of the organization have become too complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities, unclear ownership, and teams operating too far from the businesses and partners they support,” describing the rationale for streamlining.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the changes are intended “to maximise the effectiveness of the people team and the enormous potential ahead of us,” in a separate memo to company leaders.
Uber’s restructuring announcement came after UBER stock fell 2.9%, with shares reaching an intraday low of $71.33 before closing near $71.71, according to one report.
Uber said it is still recruiting for more than 800 roles tied to robotaxi efforts (“including roles focused on commercializing robotaxis”), despite plans announced last month to slow hiring connected to internal artificial intelligence deployment—while management maintained AI is not driving the job cuts.
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