Industry Odisha Bureau, July 23: Uber Technologies has laid off 10 percent of its workforce from the customer service division. This comes as the company expands its use of artificial intelligence (AI), simplifies operations and asks employees to relocate to office hubs.
The layoffs affect employees in Uber’s community operations team. This supports riders, drivers, and delivery partners. The company said the move is part of a broader effort to streamline operations, improve in-person collaboration and integrate AI more deeply across the business.
Uber has also asked several remote employees to relocate to designated office hubs under its return-to-office policy.
According to official reports, Uber believes its customer service organisation has become too complex to fully benefit from AI. In an internal memo, Uber VP Megha Yethatika said that fragmented processes were slowing the company’s AI ambitions.
Notably, Uber has not disclosed how many employees work in the division. As a result of which, the exact number of layoffs remains unclear.
The latest cuts mark Uber’s second round of job reductions in less than two months. In June, the company laid off 23 percent of its people division. This affected fewer than 1 percent of its global workforce of about 34,000 employees.
Earlier in May, Uber also announced that it would slow hiring as AI takes on a larger role internally. However, reports state that Uber continues to recruit for more than 500 positions. This includes engineering roles supporting its robotaxi initiatives.
The move makes Uber one of the several technology companies linking workforce changes to AI adoption. Companies like Oracle and Block have also cited AI while restructuring parts of their workforce.
