Uber Technologies to Cut 3,300 Jobs, or 10% of Workforce, in $10 Billion Robotaxi Push

【Financial News New York = Reporter Lee Byung-chul】 Uber Technologies will cut 3,300 jobs, equivalent to 10% of its total workforce. It will be the company's largest restructuring since the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is aimed at improving operational efficiency through artificial intelligence (AI), streamlining the organization, and directing the resulting savings toward robotaxis. Uber Technologies plans to invest more than $10 billion in expanding its robotaxi network, stepping up its competition with Alphabet and Elon Musk's Tesla for leadership in the autonomous-vehicle market.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber Technologies, said on the 2nd local time that the company plans to cut 3,300 jobs. The reduction represents about 10% of its total workforce and will be the largest since the COVID-19 pandemic. The company plans to reduce its organization primarily by cutting management positions.
In a message to employees, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted that the company's explosive growth in recent years had added layers of management, complicated coordination, and dispersed responsibility and authority. He explained that an organizational structure suited to a smaller business no longer operates efficiently at the company's current scale.
Citigroup estimated that the restructuring could save Uber Technologies approximately $825 million annually. A substantial portion of the savings is expected to be invested in future businesses, including robotaxis.
The layoffs were also analyzed as being partly driven by productivity gains from the adoption of AI. Citigroup analyst Ronald Joshi said that efficiency improvements resulting from Uber Technologies' AI investments were one of the factors that made the workforce reduction possible.
Uber Technologies is directing the funds it has freed up toward robotaxis. The company plans to invest more than $10 billion in expanding its robotaxi network. Its strategy is to gain an advantage in the race to commercialize autonomous vehicles by leveraging its existing customer base of more than 200 million people.
Uber Technologies plans to operate robotaxi services in at least 15 cities this year. It is competing with Waymo and Tesla to gain an early lead in the global robotaxi market.
The company is also accelerating the commercialization of robotaxis in the United Kingdom. Last month, Uber Technologies said that British autonomous-driving startup Wayve had received permission from Transport for London (TfL) to launch a commercial robotaxi service with a safety operator seated in the driver's seat.
Meanwhile, competition is intensifying in its traditional food-delivery business. Uber Eats is expanding its market share in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, but is losing ground to DoorDash in the United States. According to eMarketer, DoorDash's share of the U.S. food-delivery market has risen to about 64%, its highest level since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uber Technologies' share stands at 31%, roughly half of DoorDash's.
Uber Technologies is also pursuing mergers and acquisitions to expand its food-delivery business. In July, it agreed to acquire Berlin-based Delivery Hero for €13 billion and is now preparing for the integration.
The company is changing its work arrangements as well. Uber Technologies plans to reduce the share of employees eligible for fully remote work to about 1% of its workforce and strengthen its hybrid-work policy, requiring employees to come to the office three days a week.



[email protected] Reporter Lee Byung-chul Reporter