As part of aggressive plans to reduce its global workforce by 23 percent, Uber Technologies Inc. has decided to dissolve around 600 job positions in India, the company disclosed late Tuesday as it joins domestic competitor Ola in the face of an ongoing global health crisis that has crippled demand for applications-based vehicle operations.
The ride-hailing firm last week stated that it was focusing its main businesses on ride-hailing and food delivery services and slash more jobs around the world as part of urgent measures to make profits amid a pandemic that is showing no signs of let up.
Workers that will impacted by the looming job cuts include regular employees working on a full-time basis in driver and rider support, and other positions that account to about a quarter of the company's total headcount in India.
Workers who will be included in the cuts will be given a minimum ten-week payout and medical insurance benefit for the next six months.
These workers will also receive outplacement support and they will be allowed to retain their laptops. The workers will also have the option to participate in the company's skills directory.
Uber's move is part of its recently announced 6,700 employment cutdowns worldwide as a result of the coronavirus lockdown that has hammered businesses everywhere.
Uber has also disclosed last week proposals to let go of about 3,000 more employees on top of the recently announced terminations of 3,700 staff.
Pradeep Parameswaran, Uber's president for South Asia and India, said he was very sorry for the affected workers and called it a sad moment for the firm.
Earlier this month, the company resumed ride-hailing operations in approximately 50 cities in India, despite much of the country still under lockdown.
With very limited demand for rides as a huge number of people are isolated in their homes, Uber has engaged in a partnership with local online grocery firms Bigbasket and also unveiled a new package delivery service in the country.
As this developed, based on an unnamed source, maximum job cuts have been initiated in Uber's central mobility area and administration personnel at their main offices. Global technology units have reportedly been spared from the terminations, the sources added, as reported by QRIUS.
The ride-hailing cab operations in India was suspended late March as the government imposed a large-scale lockout to curb the spread of COVID-19. The shutdown has since been loosened, but companies in various sectors face obstacles as demand for their products and services has fallen.
