Uber To Lay off 3,700 Employees Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

Just today, Uber announced plans to reduce its operating expenses, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought some significant economic challenges and uncertainty for the company.

As a result, the Company is reducing its employees (customer support and recruiting teams) by approximately 3,700, which comes with approximately $20 million related to severance, according to the company.

“With people taking fewer trips, the unfortunate reality is that there isn’t enough work for many of our front-line customer support employees,” said an Uber spokesperson in an emailed statement. “Since we don’t know how long a recovery will take, we are taking steps to bring our costs in line with the size of our business today. This was a tough decision, but it is the right one to help protect the company’s long-term health and ensure we come out of this crisis stronger,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi who is waiving his base salary for the rest of the year.

The pandemic impacted Uber hard, despite the company’s efforts, like Uber Eats offering. Uber’s competitor, Lyft, was also affected and has also laid off about 982 employees.