Canary in the AI coalmine? Uber cuts 23% in HR and workplace division

Uber is cutting 23% of jobs in its People and Places division, which covers human resources, recruitment, workplace facilities, and culture, according to Bloomberg.
A company spokesperson confirmed the affected headcount falls well below 1% of Uber's global workforce of 34,000, though the company declined to provide a specific figure. Senior-level positions account for a large share of the roles being eliminated.

The restructuring comes three weeks after Jill Hazelbaker was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer, a role that added Uber's safety operations and the People and Places organization to her responsibilities. Writing to employees whose roles were affected, Hazelbaker described the structural problems she intends to fix, saying the organization had become "too complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities, unclear ownership, and teams operating too far from the businesses and partners they support." Her stated goal, per CNBC, is to arrive at a "more connected, modern, operationally excellent organization."
In his own internal communication directed at company leadership, Dara Khosrowshahi offered his rationale, writing that "changes are necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the People team and the enormous potential ahead of us," CNBC reported.

Despite the broader industry trend of linking headcount reductions to artificial intelligence investment, Bloomberg reports that Uber's spokesperson explicitly ruled out AI as a factor in these particular cuts. Rather than sweeping reductions, the company has favored a narrower approach to cost management, and job listings remain active for over 800 positions, among them roles supporting the commercialization of robotaxi services.

Source: Yahoo Finance