Uber, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing and delivery giant, has announced it will cut approximately 10 percent of its global workforce — around 3,300 positions — as part of what CEO Dara Khosrowshahi described as "significant organisational changes" designed to make the company "simpler and faster."

In an email to staff, Khosrowshahi acknowledged that Uber, which employs roughly 34,000 people across more than 70 countries, had grown rapidly but accumulated too many managerial layers and small, fragmented teams, slowing decision-making. The restructuring will consolidate many of those smaller units into larger groups and reduce the number of employees sitting more than seven layers from the CEO. Khosrowshahi said the changes would result in "clearer ownership, faster decisions, and more time spent building rather than coordinating." The cuts affect both managers and non-managers, and the company intends to concentrate roles in key hubs, primarily New York and San Francisco, with only around one percent of staff permitted to work remotely going forward.

The reorganisation also includes strategic retreats from certain markets: Uber confirmed it is shutting down operations in Nigeria and Uganda, having already exited Tanzania earlier this year. At the same time, the company is doubling down on autonomous vehicle partnerships and consolidating its delivery business — which covers food, retail, and courier services — into teams structured at global, regional, and country levels.

The layoffs are expected to generate substantial savings. Analysts at Wedbush Securities estimated Uber would save around $1.75 billion annually, while Bloomberg analysts put the figure as high as $2 billion. Those savings are intended to be reinvested into what the company considers its core growth areas. Markets responded positively, with Uber shares rising more than 2.5 percent on the day of the announcement.

Founded in 2009, Uber transformed urban transport by connecting passengers directly with drivers using their own vehicles, later expanding into food and retail delivery. The cuts will bring its headcount back to just under 30,000, roughly the level it was at in 2021 — before its most recent phase of expansion. Unlike many large technology companies that have shed jobs while ramping up artificial intelligence spending, Uber had largely avoided major workforce reductions since the Covid-19 pandemic, making this one of its most significant restructurings in years.