Uber Technologies has cut approximately 10% of its Community Operations division — the global customer support service for drivers and passengers across all regions and languages. According to Megha Yethadka, Vice President of Global Operations, who addressed the team in an internal memo, the reason is excessive complexity and fragmentation of the organizational structure. The plan: restructure the team before scaling AI.
Second time in two months
This is not the first layoff in 2025. In June, Uber already eliminated 23% of the People division — recruiting and HR. At that time, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in an internal memorandum that changes were needed to "maximize team efficiency." In other words, in less than two months, the company has cut staff twice — and both times cited organizational streamlining and AI. According to Bloomberg, this is the first time Uber has directly linked layoffs to artificial intelligence implementation.
Uber — not an exception, but a symptom
In parallel with the layoffs, Uber has required some remote workers to relocate to office hubs — three days a week. In other words, those who survived the cuts must change their lifestyle. Meanwhile, the company is actively hiring engineers to develop autonomous vehicles.
"The rush to cut staff through AI will likely result in misallocated resources."
Helen Poitevin, Vice President at Gartner for AI's Impact on the Labor Market
Uber has joined the list — Salesforce, Block, Klarna, Oracle — where customer service cuts are attributed to automation. According to Gartner, half of companies betting on AI instead of people in customer service risk backfiring: increased dissatisfaction, more safety complaints, and regulatory scrutiny.
Where the real risk lies
Community Operations is not an abstract back-office function. These are people who settle disputes between drivers and passengers, investigate fraud, handle lost items, and deal with urgent delivery problems. These scenarios — emotionally charged, contextually complex — are the hardest to automate. AI handles standard inquiries well; non-standard ones still require human judgment.
- June 2025: −23% of People division (HR and recruiting)
- July 2025: −10% of Community Operations (customer and driver support)
- In parallel: aggressive hiring of engineers for autonomous vehicles
Uber demonstrates a classic pattern: cut costs where they're visible, and scale up where future profits are expected. The question is not whether this is strategically justified — but whether service quality keeps pace with optimization speed.
If by the Q2 report on August 5, Uber doesn't show reduced resolution times or increased customer satisfaction — the "efficient AI" argument will become a corporate cover for simple cost-cutting.
