Uber, the company made famous by single and slightly intoxicated Millennial women at parties (“I’m calling an Uber”), recently submitted an apology from the CEO, who said according to CNN that he moved to lay off 25% of the company’s work force.
Uber informed staff on Monday that it is cutting another 3,000 employees as it continues to grapple with the pressure from the global pandemic on its core business.
The news comes less than two weeks after Uber announced layoffs impacting 3,700 full-time roles. Taken together, the job cuts represent a roughly 25% reduction in the company’s headcount since the start of the pandemic.
In an email to staffers on Monday, which was viewed by CNN Business, Uber (UBER) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company is also “closing or consolidating” around 45 office locations around the world.
“We have to take these hard actions to stand strong on our own two feet, to secure our future, and to continue on our mission,” wrote Khosrowshahi, adding that the cuts are aimed at helping the company “re-focus our efforts on our core.”
Even as it makes painful costs cuts, Uber appears to be ready to invest more in meal deliveries. Last week, multiple outlets reported that Uber has made an offer to buy meal delivery company GrubHub. An Uber spokesperson previously told CNN Business the company does not comment on merger and acquisition rumors or speculation.
At the same time, Uber is tweaking how its ride-hailing business will operate during the health crisis. As parts of the US begin to reopen for business, Uber is now requiring drivers and riders to wear masks or face coverings as it anticipates a ramp up in ride requests.
“Having learned my own personal lesson about the unpredictability of the world from the punch-in-the-gut called Covid-19, I will not make any claims with absolute certainty regarding our future,” Khosrowshahi wrote in the email concerning the layoffs. “I will tell you, however, that we are making really, really hard choices now, so that we can say our goodbyes, have as much clarity as we can, move forward, and start to build again with confidence.” (source)
This does not affect Uber drivers, who remain underpaid and generally impoverished.
A lot of people did not expect to lose their jobs, but suddenly it happened.
This is the beginning, for as I have said, the virus is going to be an ongoing issue that will force companies to cut or give them an excuse to cut people to minimum levels and attempt to outsource or automate what remains.
The result will be a large population of poor people desperate for work, and willing for any government to help them with whatever program are given.
This will not likely happen under Trump. In fact, if he is elected, things will likely get a lot worse. As much as he may criticize Obama, Trump has the possibility to go down in history as somebody worse than Herbert Hoover.
Hpwever, the president who comes after him may introduce a “New Deal” sort of socialism package that “gets people back to work.” That President would have the opportunity to cast herself as a leader of a new order and to carve out a place in history that is given rarely to any man.
Beware the 2024 election- that is when real change will happen. Until then, save and conserve as much as one can, because the economy is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.