The layoffs follow another 400-employee cut to the company’s global marketing team, first reported in July, which did not affect Canadian employees. “Today’s reorganization with the product and engineering teams did not include Canadian employees or impact our future plans for the new Toronto engineering hub, Josh McConnell, head of communications for Uber Canada, told The Logic. (TechCrunch, The Logic)
Talking point: Uber continues losing money, reporting US$1 billion in losses in its first quarter of 2019, over 100 per cent more than what it lost in the same quarter the previous year. In July, the company told The Logic that the marketing layoffs wouldn’t impact its staffing numbers and hiring plans in Canada. Uber announced in October 2018 that it would grow its Toronto staff from 200 workers to 500 in the coming years, with most of those hires being made in its new engineering office in the city. According to TechCrunch, 85 per cent of those laid off are based in the U.S.; 10 per cent in Asia-Pacific; and five per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company has 27,000 full-time employees around the world.