Mumbai: Uber, as a part of global cost cuts, were forced to shut down their office in Mumbai. Due to the unprecedented times triggered by COVID-19 outbreak, 600 employees were laid off by the cab service company, in May.
According to sources, employees residing in Mumbai will continue to work from home until December 2020. It is unclear if there will be a new office set up and whether the employees will be shifted there.
Nearly 6,700 employees from Uber were affected after the global downsizing exercise. Uber's Mumbai office laid off one-fourth of its total staff in India, they included customer and driver support, business development, legal, finance, policy, and marketing verticals.
As a part of the downsizing exercise, Uber India is cutting down its property and rental expenses as well.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber said in a recent press conference, the ride-hailing firm has planned on cost-cutting worth $1 billion due to unforeseen circumstances caused by the coronavirus outbreak, resulting in a global pandemic.
Even UberEats, the delivery partner of Uber was also sold to Zomato by the firm. The deal is to pick up 10 per cent of stake earned by Zomato. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, Uber exited eight delivery markets as they seem hopeful to turn profitable by the end of FY21.
Ola, another ride-hailing service and Uber's rival, had to cut down 1,400 jobs in May as the nation-wide lockdown severely hit the mobility business in the country.
Bounce, VOGO, Yulu, and Zoomcar are vehicle rental startups who were gravely affected by the global pandemic, they witnessed a sharp dip in ridership due to the nation-wide lockdown.
