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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: 2) by c0lo on Thursday September 12 2019, @02:30AM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 12 2019, @02:30AM (#893027) Journal

    After all, it's more important to protect Uber drivers from themselves rather than having a functioning riding hailing transportation system, wouldn't you agree?

    To vague a statement for me to decide if I agree or not.

    Do you really think that a mobile application to hail a ride and monitor the progress is such a big deal?

    Tens of millions of people use it for some reason. I bet a fair number of them find it is a big deal.

    Let's make the thing clear in my intended meaning: "big deal = requires billion of dollars and hundred engineer*years to develop".
    Do you think that the "entry level for a local market is set so high that only the kind of Uber/Lyft enterprises can break through it"? Personally, I really doubt it and I can see many "Uber/Lyft-like apps" made available by small taxi businesses acting in a city that doesn't artificially restrict the number of taxis.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 12 2019, @11:41AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 12 2019, @11:41AM (#893121) Journal

    Do you think that the "entry level for a local market is set so high that only the kind of Uber/Lyft enterprises can break through it"?

    In many places, yes.

    Personally, I really doubt it and I can see many "Uber/Lyft-like apps" made available by small taxi businesses acting in a city that doesn't artificially restrict the number of taxis.

    Note the phrase "in a city that doesn't artificially restrict the number of taxis".