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posted by janrinok on Wednesday September 11 2019, @06:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the do-they-get-a-lyft-home? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Uber lays off hundreds more, this time from its engineering and product teams

Uber announced even more layoffs on Tuesday, following an earlier round in July. The ride-hailing company confirmed it's letting go of hundreds of employees in its engineering and product departments to "reset and improve how we work day to day." The total number of staff it laid off this time was 435 people, or about 8% of each department.

"We need to shift how we design our organizations: lean, exceptionally high-performing teams, with clear mandates and the ability to execute faster than our competitors," an Uber spokesman said in a statement. "Today, we're making some changes to get us back on track, which include reducing the size of some teams to ensure we are staffed appropriately against our top priorities."

The layoffs, first reported by TechCrunch, come during a rough period for Uber as it attempts to gain footing as a public company. After debuting on Wall Street in May, the company has seen plummeting stock prices, quarterly revenue loss and an exodus of high-level executives. Three of Uber's board members have stepped down since then, along with its chief operating officer and chief marketing officer.

[...] With this latest round of layoffs, the Uber spokesman said Khosrowshahi asked his management team if they were satisfied with the design of their organizations.

"After careful consideration, our engineering and product leaders concluded the answer to this question in many respects was no," the spokesman said. "Previously, to meet the demands of a hyper-growth startup, we hired rapidly and in a decentralized way." That worked in the past, the spokesman said, but it doesn't anymore.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday September 11 2019, @07:09PM (3 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday September 11 2019, @07:09PM (#892866)

    Management knows they're in trouble (thanks in no small part to recent legislation [soylentnews.org]) and doing everything they can to grab the money and run.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday September 11 2019, @08:28PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday September 11 2019, @08:28PM (#892885)

    Uber's share price is still at something like $33 so, management might be in trouble but there are evidently still shareholders holding out hope that some backwoods rube with a lot of money* will bail them out.

     

     

    * Seems like a small market to aim at to me.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday September 11 2019, @10:00PM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 11 2019, @10:00PM (#892927) Journal

    No tragedy, the first investors grabbed their money; doesn't matter if the unicorn they nursed is an old donkey kept for ages on life support.
    The fucks that bought the shares at IPO can be fucked at their own time, who cares about them? Your pension fund included.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 11 2019, @10:48PM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday September 11 2019, @10:48PM (#892941)

      The Uber Unicorn was of the Ringling Brothers' variety (I saw it live in 1985!) Noone is allowed to look at it too closely, or for very long, or while it is standing still, that's what keeps the magic alive.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]