Uber has revealed a significant internal restructuring effort that involves reducing the size of its People and Places division—which encompasses crucial functions like human resources and recruitment—by approximately 23%. Although this figure represents a large proportion within that department, it equates to less than one percent of Uber’s overall global workforce. The company made a clear distinction in its announcement that artificial intelligence, a factor increasingly discussed in modern workforce shifts, did not play any role in driving these layoffs. Instead, the adjustment reflects Uber’s broader strategy to enhance operational efficiency and realign its human capital management with evolving corporate priorities and external market pressures.
This decision arrives at a moment of widespread reassessment within the technology industry, where numerous leading organizations have been reconfiguring their teams, streamlining internal departments, and reevaluating cost structures amid a changing economic landscape. Even as AI and automation dominate the public narrative about the “future of work,” Uber emphasized that its choice to downsize in this area was motivated by organizational optimization rather than automation displacement.
Such developments underline a larger trend among technology firms, which continue to balance innovation, workforce retention, and adaptability in an increasingly volatile global marketplace. For Uber, this restructuring serves as a signal of its intention to refine internal processes, maintain flexibility, and ensure that the company’s people operations remain scalable and efficient in anticipation of future growth challenges. Ultimately, while the reduction of HR and recruitment staff may appear to many as a reaction to automation pressures, Uber’s official position places this move firmly within the sphere of strategic restructuring and long-term business recalibration.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-layoffs-ai-dara-khosrowshahi-2026-6
