6 ms·

Uber lays off 3700 employees via Zoom

78 points by frellus 6y ago

frellus 6y ago
Maybe it's almost a good sign it's only 14% of the company -- I don't know anyone that's been taking Ubers since March
battery_cowboy 6y ago
Well, I'd rather get laid off over zoom than email, also, I was laid off in 3 minutes in-person. Is that better? I would have preferred they just called me that morning so i could have stayed home. Maybe that's just me. It sucks to be laid off any way you look at it.
- tyingq 6y ago
  Laid off, one-on-one, over Zoom would be okay with me. Then I could ask questions that are specific to me and (hopefully) get answers. A mass call with thousands of people though? I don't see how that's ever okay.
  - 1stranger 6y ago
    Presumably there is a lot of management being laid off as well that managed those 3,500 people. There probably isn't enough HR to manage that volume of layoffs 1:1. No point in dragging it out over multiple days, dealing with rumors, etc. I watched the call in the article. Given the severance they're getting I think they did the most humane thing possible.
drevil-v2 6y ago
> 'They were going based on a lottery, like Russian roulette. The severance package is generous, but they're treating us like they treat the drivers,' she continued, referring to Uber's less than stellar reputation in fairly compensating their independent contractors. Maybe I am old but it seems to me that woman is super entitled. By her own words the severance package is generous; what else does she want?
- vertex-four 6y ago
  To be treated as a human being, and to have the people in management at her company treat their employees as if their jobs at least mattered at some point.
  - darrmit 6y ago
    I’m sorry but saying being laid off via an online meeting with a generous severance package is equivalent to not being “treated as a human being” is a bit rich.
    - bhupy 6y ago
      Especially during a time when every meeting is online via Zoom.
    - colinmorelli 6y ago
      Yeah I was torn about responding to this comment. By the employee's own admission, the severance was generous. There is no other option but to use online meetings for this now. So maybe a 1:1 could have been done, but a) that would have taken significantly longer to complete and b) would have resulted in people spreading rumors and employees who were not impacted would have feared for their jobs thus impacting productivity and morale. We can talk for hours about all the things Uber could certainly could have done differently throughout their history that - maybe, possibly, in a parallel universe - could have prevented this from happening. But they are where they are now, and there's no "good way" to lay off 3,500 people in a situation like this. Also, to the sibling here - there's simply not enough information to suggest that these employees could not ask questions at all. At least by my read, that's not stated anywhere, and unless explicitly stated otherwise my assumption is that they were provided with the contact information for someone if they had questions - as this is typically how most companies would handle this, particularly at Uber's size.
    - fzeroracer 6y ago
      Well no, that's not the inhumane moment. What makes it feel inhumane is when you're laid off with 3700 other employees in a three minute meeting. It means you don't get to talk directly with your manager nor are you potentially given a chance to speak with your team.
onetimemanytime 6y ago
Zoom or not the news is bad. In person probably is worse, the decision is final.
schoolornot 6y ago
This will come off insensitive and I apologize but: 3500(15/hr40/week*52/weeks) comes to $109,200,000/yr. 100+ million in frontline support payroll? Seems excessive to me. Does anyone know what exactly frontline support is @ Uber?
- fzeroracer 6y ago
  Is it really that absurd? Uber operates in over 70ish different countries, with frontline support serving as customer service, recruiting and likely driver support. If you assume at least 50 reps per country, that alone would get you to 3500 employees. That's likely on the smaller side too, considering Uber supports places such as China and the US which would have far higher CS requirements due to a larger population. You also need to consider that this requires around the clock support, meaning you'd have also have employees working graveyard shifts or find a way to offload that to other regions.
squnch 6y ago
I really don’t get this criticism of “laying off over Zoom.” What are they supposed to do, visit them in person at their home and infect them with Covid while laying them off? All meetings are over Zoom now.
- totallynotabot 6y ago
  A manager 1:1 or immediate-working-team video call would have been more respectful way to end a working relationship, no? Something that includes some amount of personal communication/conversation rather than a mass broadcast anonymous message? Treating someone as a person, rather than a resource. If it were happening to you, what would you hope for?
  - hadtodoit 6y ago
    I'd be happy with the generous severance package and move on with my life. But do you honestly care about a generic exit interview? Do you think any employer cares that much? Seems like a total waste of time for everyone involved given the circumstances.
    - vmception 6y ago
      I honestly don't think these are issues, they get some journalist to find the one person in 3700 complaining on twitter
  - ergocoder 6y ago
    I'd hope for a quick and to-the-point meeting. Or even better, I'd hope for a written email explaining the detail instead. I never encountered a layoff. But I encountered several rejections after on-site interviews. And, every time, the recruiters insisted on talking on the phone. It wasted my time. Scheduling a phone call required scheduling it the next day and finding available time and etc. Just tell me the outcome. Personal communication is great, but it shouldn't waste people's time.
  - xbeta 6y ago
    I think that makes sense if you assume the manager were not let go. But in a layoff case, they usually chop the entire org, which is as huge as 100+ people.
DmitryOlshansky 6y ago
Some tech companies are simply not sustainable and won’t last a year in the new reality.
- colinmorelli 6y ago
  A lot of companies won't last a year when their business operations are effectively ceased overnight - whether they were sustainable beforehand or not. Uber certainly had cash flow problems before this started, but even companies with healthy cash flow that operate in heavily hit industries are going to feel this. For example, Expedia recently laid off 3,000 if I remember correctly.
- bhupy 6y ago
  Uber has $8B in cash.
  - DmitryOlshansky 6y ago
    Yeah, but for how long? s/1/10/
    - bhupy 6y ago
      As with running away from the bear, they just need to outrun the other guy. How long does Lyft have? When can Uber raise its prices to become EBITDA positive?
      - DmitryOlshansky 6y ago
        I’m getting my popcorn ready for this episode of “walking dead” unfold all over the internet news outlets.
      - vmception 6y ago
        Wall St was pleased with Lyft's growth, not pleased with Uber's growth but did not see surprises. Easier to impress when you start from a smaller amount and don't have a bunch of pet projects to shed. People are obsessed with this rideshare/gig economy winner take all idea almost like they have to believe it... actually that explains a lot.
Proven 6y ago
How else are they supposed to fire them? They could have asked them to fly in and then they'd have to fire 3800. And some would sill complain and also decide to sue Uber for something.
greendave 6y ago
> 'Apparently someone at the CEO level leaked that this was gonna happen, so they expedited it.' > The employee tells DailyMail.com that more layoffs at Uber are expected. Leaks at the executive level + lack of trust by employees for the future means those who can leave will. This part is a problem of their own making.
_xerxes_ 6y ago
That is one horrible website, I can't believe that garbage was posted on HN.
- vikramkr 6y ago
  Surely theres a better source for this news than this sort of tabloid trash? Just looking at the article's title - it's so sensationalist and clickbaity.
xhruso00 6y ago
This remind me movie: Up in the air where George Cloney and the company he works for want to lay of people using Cisco Webex.
namelosw 6y ago
> They're treating us like they treat the drivers I feel even more uncomfortable reading this sentence. Maybe I'm overreacted but feels like many historical political events like "We help them deal with <an ethnic group>. But we didn't expect they treating us the same way after that."

78 points by frellus 6y ago

Maybe it's almost a good sign it's only 14% of the company -- I don't know anyone that's been taking Ubers since March

Well, I'd rather get laid off over zoom than email, also, I was laid off in 3 minutes in-person. Is that better? I would have preferred they just called me that morning so i could have stayed home. Maybe that's just me. It sucks to be laid off any way you look at it.

tyingq 6y ago
Laid off, one-on-one, over Zoom would be okay with me. Then I could ask questions that are specific to me and (hopefully) get answers. A mass call with thousands of people though? I don't see how that's ever okay.
- 1stranger 6y ago
  Presumably there is a lot of management being laid off as well that managed those 3,500 people. There probably isn't enough HR to manage that volume of layoffs 1:1. No point in dragging it out over multiple days, dealing with rumors, etc. I watched the call in the article. Given the severance they're getting I think they did the most humane thing possible.

drevil-v2 6y ago

> 'They were going based on a lottery, like Russian roulette. The severance package is generous, but they're treating us like they treat the drivers,' she continued, referring to Uber's less than stellar reputation in fairly compensating their independent contractors. Maybe I am old but it seems to me that woman is super entitled. By her own words the severance package is generous; what else does she want?

vertex-four 6y ago
To be treated as a human being, and to have the people in management at her company treat their employees as if their jobs at least mattered at some point.
- darrmit 6y ago
  I’m sorry but saying being laid off via an online meeting with a generous severance package is equivalent to not being “treated as a human being” is a bit rich.
  - bhupy 6y ago
    Especially during a time when every meeting is online via Zoom.
  - colinmorelli 6y ago
    Yeah I was torn about responding to this comment. By the employee's own admission, the severance was generous. There is no other option but to use online meetings for this now. So maybe a 1:1 could have been done, but a) that would have taken significantly longer to complete and b) would have resulted in people spreading rumors and employees who were not impacted would have feared for their jobs thus impacting productivity and morale. We can talk for hours about all the things Uber could certainly could have done differently throughout their history that - maybe, possibly, in a parallel universe - could have prevented this from happening. But they are where they are now, and there's no "good way" to lay off 3,500 people in a situation like this. Also, to the sibling here - there's simply not enough information to suggest that these employees could not ask questions at all. At least by my read, that's not stated anywhere, and unless explicitly stated otherwise my assumption is that they were provided with the contact information for someone if they had questions - as this is typically how most companies would handle this, particularly at Uber's size.
  - fzeroracer 6y ago
    Well no, that's not the inhumane moment. What makes it feel inhumane is when you're laid off with 3700 other employees in a three minute meeting. It means you don't get to talk directly with your manager nor are you potentially given a chance to speak with your team.

onetimemanytime 6y ago

Zoom or not the news is bad. In person probably is worse, the decision is final.

schoolornot 6y ago

This will come off insensitive and I apologize but: 3500(15/hr40/week*52/weeks) comes to $109,200,000/yr. 100+ million in frontline support payroll? Seems excessive to me. Does anyone know what exactly frontline support is @ Uber?

fzeroracer 6y ago
Is it really that absurd? Uber operates in over 70ish different countries, with frontline support serving as customer service, recruiting and likely driver support. If you assume at least 50 reps per country, that alone would get you to 3500 employees. That's likely on the smaller side too, considering Uber supports places such as China and the US which would have far higher CS requirements due to a larger population. You also need to consider that this requires around the clock support, meaning you'd have also have employees working graveyard shifts or find a way to offload that to other regions.

squnch 6y ago

I really don’t get this criticism of “laying off over Zoom.” What are they supposed to do, visit them in person at their home and infect them with Covid while laying them off? All meetings are over Zoom now.

totallynotabot 6y ago
A manager 1:1 or immediate-working-team video call would have been more respectful way to end a working relationship, no? Something that includes some amount of personal communication/conversation rather than a mass broadcast anonymous message? Treating someone as a person, rather than a resource. If it were happening to you, what would you hope for?
- hadtodoit 6y ago
  I'd be happy with the generous severance package and move on with my life. But do you honestly care about a generic exit interview? Do you think any employer cares that much? Seems like a total waste of time for everyone involved given the circumstances.
  - vmception 6y ago
    I honestly don't think these are issues, they get some journalist to find the one person in 3700 complaining on twitter
- ergocoder 6y ago
  I'd hope for a quick and to-the-point meeting. Or even better, I'd hope for a written email explaining the detail instead. I never encountered a layoff. But I encountered several rejections after on-site interviews. And, every time, the recruiters insisted on talking on the phone. It wasted my time. Scheduling a phone call required scheduling it the next day and finding available time and etc. Just tell me the outcome. Personal communication is great, but it shouldn't waste people's time.
- xbeta 6y ago
  I think that makes sense if you assume the manager were not let go. But in a layoff case, they usually chop the entire org, which is as huge as 100+ people.

DmitryOlshansky 6y ago

Some tech companies are simply not sustainable and won’t last a year in the new reality.

colinmorelli 6y ago
A lot of companies won't last a year when their business operations are effectively ceased overnight - whether they were sustainable beforehand or not. Uber certainly had cash flow problems before this started, but even companies with healthy cash flow that operate in heavily hit industries are going to feel this. For example, Expedia recently laid off 3,000 if I remember correctly.
bhupy 6y ago
Uber has $8B in cash.
- DmitryOlshansky 6y ago
  Yeah, but for how long? s/1/10/
  - bhupy 6y ago
    As with running away from the bear, they just need to outrun the other guy. How long does Lyft have? When can Uber raise its prices to become EBITDA positive?
    - DmitryOlshansky 6y ago
      I’m getting my popcorn ready for this episode of “walking dead” unfold all over the internet news outlets.
    - vmception 6y ago
      Wall St was pleased with Lyft's growth, not pleased with Uber's growth but did not see surprises. Easier to impress when you start from a smaller amount and don't have a bunch of pet projects to shed. People are obsessed with this rideshare/gig economy winner take all idea almost like they have to believe it... actually that explains a lot.

Proven 6y ago

How else are they supposed to fire them? They could have asked them to fly in and then they'd have to fire 3800. And some would sill complain and also decide to sue Uber for something.

greendave 6y ago

> 'Apparently someone at the CEO level leaked that this was gonna happen, so they expedited it.' > The employee tells DailyMail.com that more layoffs at Uber are expected. Leaks at the executive level + lack of trust by employees for the future means those who can leave will. This part is a problem of their own making.

_xerxes_ 6y ago

That is one horrible website, I can't believe that garbage was posted on HN.

vikramkr 6y ago
Surely theres a better source for this news than this sort of tabloid trash? Just looking at the article's title - it's so sensationalist and clickbaity.

xhruso00 6y ago

This remind me movie: Up in the air where George Cloney and the company he works for want to lay of people using Cisco Webex.

namelosw 6y ago

> They're treating us like they treat the drivers I feel even more uncomfortable reading this sentence. Maybe I'm overreacted but feels like many historical political events like "We help them deal with <an ethnic group>. But we didn't expect they treating us the same way after that."