Uber lays off 200 recruiting employees

Uber said in its memo it would let go of 35 percent of its workforce to streamline costs.

Uber has cut its workforce by at least 17 percent since the start of the pandemic. (Photo: Unsplash)

New Delhi: Uber is laying off 200 employees of its recruiting division as part of a cross-cutting measure. The ride-hailing app said in its memo it would lay off 35 percent of its workforce to streamline costs, according to a Wallstreet Journal report.

The company had previously cut 150 jobs in its freight services division. In May, the company announced that it would retain a permanent workforce. Uber has expressed confidence to be profitable by the end of 2023.

The company has reduced its workforce by at least 17 percent since the start of the pandemic. In 2020, Uber laid off about 6,700 jobs in two major rounds of layoffs.

After laying off 3,500 of its workforce via a Zoom call, the ride-sharing company announced in May 2020 that it would cut an additional 3,000 jobs in its second round of layoffs.

In the first quarter of this year, Uber reported a 24 percent increase in rides to 2.1 billion, or an average of about 24 million rides per day.

According to Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, the company significantly accelerated its first-quarter travel growth from 19 percent in Q1 to 24 percent, with mobility ride growth of 32 percent due to improved revenues and consumer engagement.

“Looking forward, we are focused on expanding our product, scale and platform advantages to maintain market-leading top and bottom-line growth beyond 2023,” he said during the company’s quarterly earnings call. For Q2 2023, Uber expects gross bookings of $33 billion to $34 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $800 million to $850 million.