Uber Technologies has reduced nearly a quarter of the workforce within its People and Places division as part of a major restructuring of its HR organisation aimed at improving efficiency and strengthening alignment with business operations.
The move affects 23 per cent of employees within the division, which oversees key people functions including human resources, talent acquisition, employee experience and workplace operations. While the company has not disclosed the exact number of affected employees, Uber said the cuts represent well under 1 per cent of its global workforce of about 34,000 employees.
The restructuring comes shortly after Jill Hazelbaker assumed expanded leadership responsibilities as president and chief corporate affairs officer. The changes are among the first major organisational actions under her new role.
According to internal communications, Uber is seeking to simplify its people function by reducing overlapping responsibilities, improving accountability and bringing HR teams closer to the business units they support. Company leadership indicated that parts of the organisation had become fragmented over time, creating complexity and slowing decision-making.
The development reflects a broader trend among large organisations that are reassessing the structure of corporate functions in pursuit of greater operational efficiency. Rather than focusing solely on workforce reduction, companies are increasingly redesigning HR organisations to create clearer ownership, faster execution and stronger business alignment.
Notably, Uber has stated that the layoffs are not linked to artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. The clarification comes amid growing scrutiny of the relationship between AI investments and workforce reductions across the technology sector. While Uber has been expanding its use of AI tools and recently introduced tighter controls on AI-related spending, the company maintains that the People and Places restructuring was driven by organisational design considerations rather than automation.
The changes underscore how HR functions themselves are becoming subjects of transformation. As businesses seek leaner operating models, HR teams are increasingly expected to balance strategic workforce planning, operational excellence and closer partnership with business leaders while operating with fewer layers and greater accountability.
