Uber layoffs
Emailed on August 2nd, 2019 in The Friday Forward
Uber said it laid off a third of its marketing team on Monday, or about 400 people, as the ride-hailing company tries to cut costs and streamline its operations after its initial public offering in May.
Ride-hailing, as we know, is an expensive business and it's entirely possible ride-sharing companies will never be profitable.
Since the IPO, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, has moved to make changes at the company. In June, he pushed out two members of his executive team: Barney Harford, the chief operating officer, and Rebecca Messina, the chief marketing officer. Ms. Messina’s role was eliminated, and the marketing team was reorganized under Uber’s communications lead, Jill Hazelbaker.
On Aug. 8, Uber is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings. When it reported its first-quarter results, it posted its slowest growth in years and a loss of more than $1 billion.
Give it to me straight: In an email on Monday to Uber’s marketing staff, which was reviewed by The New York Times, Ms. Hazelbaker said the 400 layoffs were taking place because the team had grown bloated and decision-making was unclear. The marketing team’s organizational charts ran to more than 388 pages, she said.
Pretty straightforward to say the least.