Uber Cuts 3,300 Jobs, Limits Fully Remote Work to About 1% of Employees

Uber is cutting about 3,300 jobs as part of a restructuring that will also significantly reduce the number of employees allowed to work fully remotely.

The company is limiting fully remote positions to roughly 1% of its global workforce. Most employees who currently work remotely will be asked to move closer to an office associated with their team.

For Uber employees who remain with the company, the three-day-a-week office requirement will continue. The company also plans to take a stricter approach to monitoring compliance with the policy.

The changes mean the latest restructuring affects not only jobs but also where many employees are expected to live and work.

Uber sets a 1% ceiling for fully remote roles

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company has reassessed its approach to remote work following lessons from the pandemic.

The company believes that working together in person can improve collaboration and problem-solving, according to the memo sent to employees.

Under the new approach, fully remote positions will be capped at around 1% of Uber's workforce worldwide.

Employees who remain eligible for remote work will be a small exception rather than the norm. Most other remote workers will be required to move closer to an office where their team is based.

Team structure will determine employees' office locations

Uber is also establishing clearer rules for where different teams should be located.

Global teams will be concentrated in New York and San Francisco. Regional teams will be assigned to designated regional hubs, while local teams will operate from country hubs.

Engineering employees will be placed in technology hubs.

The company also intends to align managers more closely with their teams. Early-career employees have been specifically identified as a group that should benefit from greater in-person interaction.

For employees based in smaller locations, the changes could create uncertainty over both their roles and their future work locations.

Uber plans stricter monitoring of office attendance

Uber's existing hybrid model requires employees to work from an office three days each week. The company now intends to reinforce compliance rather than leave attendance largely to individual teams or managers.

The change comes alongside the consolidation of team locations, making office attendance more closely tied to specific company hubs.

Employees affected by the remote-work changes therefore face a practical decision about whether to relocate to the city associated with their team.

Layoffs aim to simplify Uber's organisation

The 3,300 job cuts are part of a broader effort to reduce management layers and simplify the company's structure.

Uber has reduced the number of employees positioned seven or more management levels below the CEO by 20%. It has also cut by half the number of teams with only one or two direct reports.

Three delivery operations teams covering restaurants, retail and direct commerce are being combined. Within engineering, Core Services Engineering and Science are also being merged.

Khosrowshahi said Uber's revenue has nearly tripled over the past five years, but the expansion created additional organisational layers and unclear ownership across parts of the company.

Unlike several technology-sector layoffs announced in recent years, Uber has not attributed the restructuring to artificial intelligence.

Robotaxi competition adds strategic pressure

The restructuring comes as Uber increases its focus on autonomous vehicles and the wider robotaxi market.

Waymo's autonomous rides are already available through the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta, while the company continues to expand its operations independently.

Tesla is also advancing its driverless ride ambitions.

Uber plans to invest more than $10 billion in the autonomous-vehicle ecosystem, seeking to maintain its position as a marketplace connecting passengers with autonomous transportation providers.

Analysts cited in the report estimate that the restructuring could eventually generate annual savings of up to $2 billion.

Uber said employees affected by the job cuts had already been informed. The company has not provided the same level of detail on how individual remote employees will be affected by the relocation requirements.

The combination of layoffs, management consolidation and stricter office rules represents a substantial change for Uber's workforce, particularly for employees hired during the period when remote work became a more established part of the company's operating model.