Uber is eliminating about 3,300 positions, roughly 10% of its global workforce: the company's deepest cut since 2020, when it laid off 6,700 people as the pandemic crushed ride demand. The announcement came on Wednesday in a company-wide email from CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, also published online. The restructuring brings headcount back under 30,000, returning to levels last seen in 2021.
Simpler and faster
The stated goal is to make Uber simpler and faster and free up capacity to invest in the future. In the memo, Khosrowshahi acknowledged that five years of growth have also brought complexity: more layers, more coordination, more fragmented ownership and structures that made sense when the businesses were smaller but no longer fit the current scale. Cuts affect both managers and non-managers: the number of managers will fall 20%, with some returning to individual contributor roles, micro-teams of one or two people will be halved, and the number of employees sitting more than seven layers from the CEO will be cut by 20%. Uber will also combine its core services engineering and science teams and fold its three delivery operations divisions, covering restaurants, retail and direct delivery, into one structure.
Remote work nearly ends
The office push tightens too: going forward only about 1% of employees will be allowed to work fully remotely, while most staff will face a reinforced requirement to be in the office at least three days a week, under the existing hybrid policy.
Competition and the robotaxi bet
The restructuring comes as Uber keeps growing but faces tougher competition in its key markets. In 2025 revenue rose 18% to $52 billion, and in the second quarter of 2026 it grew another 12% to $14.2 billion. In the United States, however, YipitData figures cited by multiple outlets show DoorDash holding about 64% of food deliveries versus 31% for Uber Eats, which is gaining ground in the UK, France and Germany. Analysts estimate the cuts could generate up to $2 billion in annual savings.
The freed-up resources will be concentrated on strategic bets, starting with autonomous mobility: Uber plans to invest more than $10 billion in autonomous-driving partnerships over the coming years, much of it in equity stakes in AV companies, vehicle fleets and partner support. The goal is to become the leading platform for booking robotaxis, with the service live in at least 15 cities by the end of the year, competing with Waymo and Tesla on a base of more than 200 million monthly users. In London, partner Wayve received Transport for London approval in August for a commercial robotaxi service with a safety driver on board.
The same announcement confirmed Uber's immediate exit from Nigeria and Uganda: the company said the decision is strictly limited to those two markets and does not affect operations across the rest of the continent. It is not the first workforce move this year: in July Uber cut 10% of its customer service roles as it embraced artificial intelligence, after slowing hiring in May.
Markets welcomed the restructuring: after the news broke, the stock rose about 2% on Wall Street, though it remains down roughly 8% year to date. The most watched battle remains the robotaxi race: Tesla, which is pushing into that market, is set to hold an event dedicated to its Cybercab in Austin in the coming days.
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