Uber to Lay Off 200 Employees in Recruitment Division to Cut Costs and Streamline Operations

Uber Technologies said on Wednesday it was cutting 200 jobs in its recruitment division amid plans to keep the staff count flat through the year and streamline costs.

The reductions affect less than 1 percent of Uber’s 32,700-strong global workforce and follow the ride-share company laying off 150 employees in its freight services division earlier this year.

The latest cuts account for 35 percent of Uber’s recruiting team, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development earlier in the day.

Uber trimmed its staff count by 17 percent at the start of the pandemic in mid-2020 and has implemented smaller cuts than chief rival Lyft in recent months.

Lyft, under new CEO David Risher, laid off roughly 26 percent of its total workforce in April and about 700 employees late last year, as it struggled to protect margins in the race to capture more market share from bigger rival Uber.

Uber said in May it was on track to post operating income profitability this year and that it was keeping its workforce flat after headcount fell sequentially in the March quarter.

© Thomson Reuters 2023