Uber's New President Cuts 23% of HR Department Positions Three Weeks After Taking Office
Miles Bennett
Uber is cutting 23% of its People and Places division — the first major restructuring by new president Jill Hazelbaker just three weeks after taking the role — and the company says it has nothing to do with AI.
Who got cut, and how deep?
The cuts hit the People and Places division, covering HR, recruiting, workplace facilities, and corporate culture. 23% of positions are eliminated, skewed toward senior roles.
The affected headcount is less than 1% of Uber's 34,000 global employees. This means → the absolute number is small, but the blow to that one department is concentrated and sharp.
Why her, why now?
The restructuring was driven by new president Jill Hazelbaker, just three weeks into the job. She previously led marketing, policy, and public affairs, and was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer in May.
She also inherited the safety operations and People and Places divisions — the executives who previously ran both had already left the company this year. This means → a leadership vacuum gave the new president a window to move fast.
Hazelbaker's internal memo was blunt: parts of the organization had grown "too complex and fragmented," with overlapping responsibilities, unclear ownership, and teams too far from the business they support.
Does this have anything to do with AI?
The company explicitly said no — this round of layoffs is unrelated to artificial intelligence. Uber had previously said it would slow hiring due to internal AI adoption, but this cut targets organizational bloat, not roles replaced by machines.
In plain terms = many tech companies cite "AI-driven efficiency" when they lay people off. Uber went out of its way to draw a line — what's being cut is management layers, not jobs a machine can do.
Uber still has over 800 open positions, including roles tied to commercializing autonomous ride-hailing. This reflects a company that is reallocating resources, not shrinking across the board.
What else came with the layoffs?
The restructuring also bundled a return-to-office mandate: HR employees previously approved for remote work must now return to the office, complying with the three-days-per-week policy in effect since last June.
This means → those who stay face both a heavier workload and less flexibility — the layoffs and the RTO order are two moves in the same playbook: centralize authority, raise efficiency, close the distance.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.