Uber has announced plans to eliminate about 3,300 jobs globally, representing roughly 10 per cent of its workforce, in one of the company’s largest rounds of layoffs since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The job cuts are being accompanied by major changes to the company’s remote-work arrangements, with Uber introducing stricter requirements for employees to work from designated office hubs.
In an internal memo to employees that was later published on the company’s website, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said the restructuring was aimed at reducing management layers and making the organisation more efficient.
Khosrowshahi said the changes would simplify the way teams operate and release resources that could be redirected towards Uber’s investment in autonomous vehicles.
He said the objective was to make the organisation “simpler and faster” while creating greater capacity to invest in the company’s future.
Uber is also reportedly planning to reduce the number of its “micro-teams” by half. The teams typically consist of small groups in which a manager has only one or two direct reports.
The company believes reducing such structures will help streamline decision-making and give employees clearer responsibility for their work.
The layoffs will affect corporate employees and will not include the millions of drivers and couriers who provide services through Uber’s platform.
The restructuring comes alongside Uber’s decision to shut down its ride-hailing operations in Nigeria and Uganda. The company said the move is restricted to those two markets and will not affect its wider operations across Africa.
The workforce reduction comes despite continued growth in Uber’s core business. The company’s revenue increased by about 18 per cent year-on-year in 2025 to approximately $52bn, while growth continued into 2026, although at a slower pace.
Uber has already taken other cost-cutting measures this year, including reducing part of its customer-support workforce as it increases its reliance on automation.
The company also slowed hiring earlier in the year, linking the decision partly to the growing use of artificial intelligence tools across its operations.
Uber Tightens Remote Work Policy
For employees who remain with the company, one of the most significant changes will be the tightening of its remote-work policy.
Khosrowshahi said Uber would organise its workforce around a limited number of designated hubs. Its largest offices in New York and San Francisco will serve as “global” hubs, while other employees will be assigned to “regional,” “country” or “tech” hubs.
Under the new structure, fully remote positions will account for only about one per cent of Uber’s global workforce.
The policy represents a major shift from the more flexible work arrangements the company adopted during the five years following the pandemic.
Employees who currently work remotely and live far from one of the designated hubs are generally expected to relocate closer to an office or leave the company.
Uber also plans to enforce its existing hybrid-work requirements more strictly. The current policy requires employees to work from the office three days a week.
Khosrowshahi said the company’s experience during the pandemic had shown that employees could collaborate and solve problems more effectively when working together in person.
Uber’s decision reflects a broader trend among major technology companies, many of which have reduced remote-work flexibility while restructuring their workforces in response to efficiency, automation and cost pressures.
Commenting on the development, Abhishek Bhilwaria, partner at BhilwariaFinserv, told NDTV, “The layoffs and the new location policy suggest Uber is trying to shed a flatter, more distributed way of working that took hold during the pandemic in favour of a leaner, more centralised structure built around a handful of large offices. For thousands of remaining employees, the practical choice is now stark: move closer to a hub city, accept a stricter in-office routine, or consider their options outside the company.”
