Amid coronavirus epidemic, Uber, a worldwide online taxi service company, has laid off 3500 employees. This figure is approximately 14% of the company’s total workforce. The company gave this information to its employees via zoom call, which lasted only three minutes.
The zoom call by Ruffin Chaveleau of the company’s Phoenix Center gave this bad news to its employees. This call lasted for just 3 minutes in which Ruffin Chaveleau even broke down.
Watch Uber exec gather 3,500 employees on a Zoom call, then lay them all off with no notice or warning. pic.twitter.com/15OyAkmrOU
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 11, 2020
Chevaleau told the staff: ‘Our rides business is down by more than half. There is not enough work for many frontline customer support employees. As a result, we are eliminating 3,500, frontline customer support roles. Uber laid off its customer support and recruiters team due to lower trip volumes in its rides segment, and the company have also frozen future hirings.
Uber lost $ 2.9 billion in the first quarter of this financial year, i.e. January to March.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, the company’s investment in foreign markets has been severely affected. People are no longer riding in the cabs due to lockdown. Uber, to improve its balance sheet, is now laying off employees.
In a letter to employees, the Uber CEO stated, “With our ride trip volumes declining significantly, our need for in-person support, including communication operations, has reduced significantly and there is no longer enough work for recruiters.”
The company says that the market is currently in a slowdown and the company has no work for employees. Just a week ago, Uber filed a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) state. This filing indicated that the company plans to reduce its operating expenses due to the economic challenges and uncertainty posed by the coronavirus epidemic and its impact on business.
