Uber cuts 10% of global workforce to prepare for robotaxis and drones

Uber is cutting one in 10 jobs as it prepares for an autonomous future built around robotaxis, drones and automated delivery. Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi announced the layoffs in an email to the company’s 34,000 employees worldwide.

The cuts will focus particularly on middle management. Uber plans to eliminate one in every five management positions, along with many roles described as being more than seven reporting layers removed from the chief executive. The company is also enforcing a tougher office policy. Only about 1% of employees will be allowed to work entirely outside the office, while the rest will generally be limited to two days of remote work each week.

Media reports have put the financial resources freed by the restructuring at about $825 million. Uber says it wants to invest those funds mainly in automation across its ride-hailing and delivery businesses. “We have the opportunity to innovate across all of our core businesses and shape the autonomous future,” Khosrowshahi wrote in his message to staff.

Robotaxis are central to that strategy. Khosrowshahi has invested more than $10 billion in the area. Uber once operated its own robotaxi division, but sold the business in 2020 after a 2018 crash in Arizona killed a pedestrian. The company has since repositioned itself as a platform for robotaxi services, using its reported 200 million customers to provide access to vehicles operated by other companies. Users in some U.S. cities can already book Waymo robotaxis through Uber’s app.

Uber also plans to launch a robotaxi service of its own. The restructuring combines that ambition with a broader effort to shift the company toward automated transport and delivery.

“

We have the opportunity to innovate across all of our core businesses and shape the autonomous future.