Uber has sacked another 350 people - as a part of its third round of lay-off this year - out of which less than 10 percent are based in India. The layoffs will impact the company's businesses in India, including it's online food-delivery vertical - UberEats.
The Economic Times reported that the San Francisco-headquartered taxi-hailing major had emailed employees, stating it would cull jobs of 350 people across the globe. Out of all firings, 70 percent of lay-offs would take place in the United States and Canada.
As per reports, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is expected to visit India towards the end of November. It has not been ascertained if his visit is directly connected to the lay-offs.
Notably, India contributes to around 2 percent of Uber's revenue. But as the company faces stiff competition from home-grown ride-hailing service Ola, it is injecting huge investment, making cost-cutting a target.
Uber has had a bumpy ride in India in recent times. In the past months, there has been an exponential cut in driver incentives which has led to a supply shortage of the driving partners of the taxi hailing services. This has directly impacted the growth of its business.
The latest round of sacking means a total of 1200 have been let go this year, which is around 1 percent of Uber's total staff strength.
One of the possible reason for job cuts can be Uber's disappointing IPO. The first round of lay-off was conducted in July when manpower from marketing and analytics teams were asked to leave. The second round took place in September but its Indian operations were not affected. Some of the jobs in the product and technology section were cut.
As per a Moneycontrol report, Uber is trying to diversify its business in India in the backdrop of tepid growth in its core ride-hailing business. Uber has bought a majority stake in online grocery startup Cornershop.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed yet. In a statement, Khosrowshahi said, "Whether it's getting a ride, ordering food from your favourite restaurant, or soon, getting groceries delivered, we want Uber to be the operating system for your everyday life".
