Uber’s global restructuring hits India; around 200 employees to be laid off

BENGALURU: Uber’s global restructuring has affected its India workforce, with around 200 employees from its People and Earners organisations among those laid off, employees familiar with the developments told TOI.Layoff emails began reaching employees on Wednesday without advance warning, they said. The total number of employees affected in India could not be immediately ascertained, with employees bracing for further notifications through Wednesday night and possibly Thursday.The cuts have affected some engineers in Uber’s People organisation who work on the company’s internal recruitment platform, which handles parts of the hiring process, including interview scheduling. Employees said the entire team had not been eliminated, with individuals selected for the layoffs from within the team.Some employees in Uber’s Earners organisation have also been affected. The unit develops and manages systems covering the onboarding, payments and broader lifecycle of drivers and couriers using Uber’s platforms across markets.“It’s totally random. It’s not that their performances were bad. There were some good individuals as well,” one Uber employee told TOI, describing how the selection was being perceived internally. The employee requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.Another employee said there was considerable uncertainty within the company as the extent of the India impact remained unclear. “By tomorrow, I think it will be clear how many,” the person said.Uber confirmed that its India workforce had been affected but did not disclose the number of jobs being cut or the teams involved.“Globally, we are making organizational 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,” an Uber spokesperson in India said.The spokesperson added that Uber’s commitment to India remained unchanged. The company said it was expanding its strategic footprint in the country by strengthening regional operations to drive its mobility business across Asia-Pacific.Globally, Uber is reducing its workforce by about 10%, translating into roughly 3,300 jobs. Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company was removing management layers, simplifying teams and concentrating employees in fewer hubs.In a message to employees, Khosrowshahi said Uber’s growth had created “more layers, more coordination” and fragmented ownership. The company has reduced by 20% the number of employees sitting seven or more reporting layers below the CEO and nearly halved the number of small teams with only one or two direct reports.Uber is also combining its Core Services Engineering and Science teams and merging separate Delivery operations teams covering restaurants, retail and direct delivery. It will restrict fully remote roles to about 1% of employees and enforce its three-day office policy.The India cuts come months after Uber announced two new campuses in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with a combined seating capacity of around 9,600 by 2027-end.Get the latest Business News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.