Uber cuts jobs while chasing major new markets

At this point, any layoff news is not a surprise. And while the numbers often appear smaller in the company context, the impact on the people left to search for new jobs in this economy is significant.

Despite the recent May jobs report, which said 172,000 new jobs were added, with over 90,000 upward revisions for March and April, companies are still cutting jobs.

While these hiring numbers are real, onboarding in general remains slow because these new hires are effectively limited to specific industries, such as leisure and hospitality or food and service, and are driven by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Now, Uber, the ride-hailing company that continues to expand into robotaxis and air delivery, is cutting 23% of jobs in its People and Places division, which includes human resources, recruitment, workplace facilities, and culture, according to Bloomberg.

However, the cuts represent less than 1% of Uber's roughly 34,000 employees worldwide.

Uber's drivers, who number in the millions globally, are mostly classified separately as independent contractors.

The move is not a broad companywide layoff, but shows how even profitable, growing technology companies are trimming teams where they see complexity or overlap.

The restructuring comes weeks after Uber disclosed a leadership change in a May 11 Form 8-K. Nikki Krishnamurthy stepped down as chief people officer and agreed to serve as an adviser during a transition period.

Uber also promoted longtime executive Jill Hazelbaker to president and chief corporate affairs officer.

Hazelbaker's expanded role includes safety operations and the People and Places organization.

"As we've grown, parts of the organization have become too complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities, unclear ownership, and teams operating too far from the businesses and partners they support," Hazelbaker wrote in a memo to affected teams, Bloomberg confirmed.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also told company leaders that the changes were needed to "maximize the effectiveness of the People team and the enormous potential ahead of us," Bloomberg reported.

Uber said the cuts are unrelated to artificial intelligence. Still, they come as AI is changing how the company thinks about hiring and productivity.

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Uber layoffs hit People and Places division

The cuts are focused on Uber's People and Places division, not its core ride-hailing or delivery operations.

Many of the affected roles are senior positions, according to the report. HR employees who were previously approved to work remotely are also being asked to return to the office to comply with Uber's three-day-a-week office mandate.

More Layoffs:

• E-commerce giant shuts down office as layoffs rise
• 87-year-old retail grocery giant lays off 100s in store closings
• Major sector gets hit with surprising job cuts
• Breakfast giant shuts plant, cuts 100s of workers

Uber has not publicly disclosed the exact number of employees affected.

The company did not announce the People and Places cuts in its first-quarter earnings release. But it did tell investors that AI is changing some hiring needs inside the business.

In prepared remarks for its May 6 earnings call, Uber said 95% of its engineers now use AI coding tools each month, and more than 10% of code is written autonomously by AI coding agents.

Uber said those productivity gains are allowing it to moderate hiring compared with its plans at the start of the year.

That makes the timing notable. Uber says these specific cuts are not AI-related, but the company is clearly using automation and AI tools to operate more efficiently in other parts of the business.

Uber expands delivery, travel, AI tools

The job cuts come during a strong stretch for Uber.

In the first quarter of 2026, Uber said trips grew 20% year over year to 3.6 billion. Gross bookings rose 25% to $53.7 billion, or 21% on a constant-currency basis. Revenue grew 14% to $13.2 billion, and Uber reported record GAAP income from operations of $1.9 billion.

The company also gave a strong second-quarter outlook, forecasting gross bookings of $56.25 billion to $57.75 billion.

At the same time, Uber has continued making major moves beyond its original ride-hailing business. The company recently made a $1 billion move to expand global delivery, pushed further into autonomous vehicles, and confirmed deals related to future transportation.

Uber also used its GO-GET product event to unveil new services designed to make the app more useful for travel, shopping, and everyday tasks.

The company announced hotel bookings through a partnership with Expedia Group. Uber said users in the U.S. will be able to book hotels directly through the Uber app, with access eventually expanding to more than 700,000 properties worldwide.

Uber also introduced Travel Mode, which gives users local recommendations, OpenTable reservations, hotel delivery options, and other trip-planning tools.

Another feature, Shop for Me, lets users request items from stores that are not listed in the app.

Uber also announced AI-powered Voice Bookings, which use a conversational assistant to help users book rides by describing where they want to go and what they need.

The message is clear. Uber wants its app to become a broader platform for transportation, delivery, travel, shopping, and automated services.

Uber robotaxi push grows

Uber is also expanding its autonomous-vehicle strategy.

The company's broader robotaxi push includes deals with Rivian and Nvidia and tens of thousands of robotaxis.

Uber has also moved deeper into future transportation through its Joby Aviation deal, another sign that the company is trying to build beyond traditional ride-hailing.

More recently, Uber, WeRide, and AVOMO revealed plans to launch Spain's first commercial robotaxi pilot in the Madrid region. The service is expected to begin later this year through the Uber app, initially with trained vehicle operators.

These moves point to one of Uber's biggest long-term goals: becoming a major platform for autonomous ride-hailing without building every self-driving system itself.

For consumers, this could eventually mean more ways to book rides, hotels, deliveries, shopping services, and autonomous rides in one app.

Uber's latest cuts are limited in size, but they fit a broader pattern across the technology industry.

Many tech companies are not shrinking their ambitions. They are reorganizing around AI, automation, leaner teams, and new business priorities.

Uber is still reporting stronger trips, higher gross bookings, and record operating income. It is also expanding into hotels, shopping tools, voice AI, delivery, robotaxis, and future transportation.

But it is not growing its workforce at the same pace.

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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 3:47 PM.