As Uber Exits Nigeria, Company Cuts 3,300 Jobs in Major Global Restructuring – Innovation Village

Uber is cutting about 3,300 jobs, equivalent to roughly 10% of its global workforce, as the ride-hailing giant moves to simplify its organisation and redirect resources towards areas including mobility, delivery and autonomous vehicles.

The restructuring comes as Uber is also retreating from selected markets. On the same day the company announced the workforce changes, it ended its ride-hailing operations in Nigeria and Uganda, bringing its 12-year presence in Nigeria to a close. Uber launched in Lagos in 2014 and entered Uganda two years later.

While Uber has not presented the African market exits and the job cuts as a single initiative, the developments point to a company becoming more selective about where it deploys employees and capital.

Uber wants fewer management layers

In a message to employees, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber had grown significantly over the past five years, with revenue expanding alongside new products and businesses. But that growth also created additional layers of management, overlapping responsibilities and more complicated decision-making.

The restructuring is designed to address those problems.

Uber said it has reduced the number of employees sitting seven or more reporting layers below the CEO by 20%, while cutting the number of so-called “micro-teams” — managers with only one or two direct reports — by nearly half.

The company is also combining previously separate functions. Its delivery operations covering restaurants, retail and direct delivery will be brought together under a more unified structure. Uber is similarly combining parts of its engineering and science operations.

Khosrowshahi said the objective is to “make Uber simpler and faster”, creating clearer accountability and allowing employees to spend less time coordinating…