Tech Layoffs: Uber to conduct 'rigorous' review process of employees

Uber has reportedly confirmed that it will be removing some of its employees as part of an "even more rigorous" performance review process. However, the company plans to hire new employees to fill the impacted roles.

The move comes amid a string of layoffs and job cuts at major tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Meta, with over 108,000 employees laid off from tech companies this year, according to Layoffs.

Despite reports of layoffs at Uber, the ride-hailing firm's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated at the Davos World Economic Forum in January that the company is not planning layoffs. According to a report by Business Insider, Uber's cuts are part of a more stringent performance review process, an Uber spokesperson claimed in the report. The company plans to fill the impacted roles and continue to invest in attracting and retaining top talent.

Uber's new step is not unusual for companies. Job cuts are a part of the performance review process. Unlike other layoffs in the tech sector, Uber has claimed that it plans to maintain its headcount, which seems to be part of the trend among some tech firms to impose higher standards at performance reviews.

Uber reported fourth-quarter revenue of $8.6 billion, a 49 per cent YoY increase. The company's Q4 gross bookings also increased 19 per cent YoY, and it has projected continued growth in bookings for Q1.

Tech layoffs

Google also decided to amp up its performance review system late last year. In January, the search giant announced that it will be laying off 12,000 employees. In 2022, Amazon's estimated to let go of 10,000 employees. However, the estimate was revised to a staggering 18,000 in January. Meta also let go of a major portion of its workforce. Around 13,000 people were fired from Meta's properties. Twitter let go of over 50 per cent of its employees after Elon Musk took over.