Uber Launches Second Round of Layoffs, Cuts 10% of Customer Support Staff to 'Embrace AI'

To streamline its organizational structure and advance artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, Uber (UBER-US) has announced it is cutting around 10% of its customer support operations workforce.

On Wednesday (22nd), Uber announced layoffs within its Community Operations team, stating the move aims to 'simplify operations, strengthen in-person collaboration, and continue embracing AI.' A company spokesperson said employees previously working remotely have been asked to relocate to company offices in compliance with its Return-to-Office (RTO) policy.

Megha Yethatika, Uber's Vice President of Global Community Operations, said in a memo to staff on Wednesday: 'Our organization has become too complex and siloed.' While acknowledging progress in AI integration, she emphasized, 'To truly unlock AI's potential, we must first build an efficient organization. We cannot build the most advanced technology on top of fragmented processes.'

In recent months, companies including fintech firm Block (XYZ-US) and cloud software provider Oracle (ORCL-US) have cited AI as a factor in workforce reductions. This marks the first time Uber has explicitly linked layoffs to AI-driven efficiency gains and is the second organizational restructuring in under two months aimed at simplification.

Following the appointment of a new head of HR in June, Uber previously cut 23% of its HR department, affecting less than 1% of its global workforce of approximately 34,000 employees. Uber has not disclosed the exact number of employees in the customer support operations division, so the precise scale of the layoffs remains unclear.

In May, Uber stated that due to expanded internal use of AI, it would slow down its hiring pace. However, the company's website currently lists over 500 open positions, including engineers supporting its Robotaxi partnership programs.