Parts of the organization became unnecessarily complex and fragmented
Em meio a uma reestruturação silenciosa, a Uber anunciou o corte de 23% de sua divisão de recursos humanos — não como resposta à inteligência artificial, mas como um gesto deliberado de simplificação organizacional. A mudança é conduzida por Jill Hazelbaker, recém-promovida à presidência da empresa, e reflete uma crença corporativa de que o crescimento, quando não disciplinado, gera camadas de complexidade que obscurecem a responsabilidade e afastam as equipes do negócio real. Para os cerca de 34.000 funcionários da empresa, o recado é sutil mas inequívoco: a era da estrutura difusa está chegando ao fim.
- Quase um quarto dos funcionários da divisão de RH da Uber perderá o emprego, com impacto concentrado em cargos de liderança dentro do grupo People and Places.
- A reestruturação não é uma resposta à IA — enquanto concorrentes cortam vagas alegando automação, a Uber aponta para fragmentação interna e sobreposição de responsabilidades como os verdadeiros culpados.
- Funcionários de RH que trabalhavam remotamente enfrentam agora uma dupla pressão: manter o emprego exige retornar ao escritório três dias por semana, uma exigência vigente desde junho de 2025.
- A Uber mantém mais de 800 vagas abertas, incluindo posições ligadas à expansão de robotáxis, sinalizando que os cortes são cirúrgicos, não uma retirada estratégica.
- A promoção de Hazelbaker consolida poder em torno das operações corporativas num momento em que a empresa enfrenta pressão regulatória, concorrência acirrada e questionamentos sobre cultura interna.
A Uber anunciou esta semana o corte de 23% dos funcionários de sua divisão de recursos humanos, incluindo profissionais de recrutamento, gestão de instalações e cultura organizacional. A reestruturação é liderada por Jill Hazelbaker, promovida há três semanas à presidência da empresa numa função ampliada que agora engloba RH, segurança e estratégia corporativa. Em termos absolutos, os cortes representam menos de 1% dos 34.000 funcionários globais da empresa — mas são concentrados: muitos dos demitidos ocupavam posições de liderança dentro do grupo People and Places.
O que torna a mudança significativa vai além dos números. Funcionários de RH que tinham autorização para trabalho remoto serão obrigados a retornar ao escritório três dias por semana, uma exigência já em vigor para toda a empresa desde junho do ano passado. No memorando interno, Hazelbaker descreveu a estrutura atual como excessivamente complexa e fragmentada, com responsabilidades sobrepostas e equipes distantes das unidades de negócio que deveriam apoiar. O CEO Dara Khosrowshahi reforçou a mensagem, defendendo as mudanças como essenciais para tornar a equipe de pessoas mais eficaz.
Ao contrário de grande parte do setor de tecnologia, a Uber não está usando a inteligência artificial como justificativa para os cortes — uma distinção que a própria empresa faz questão de sublinhar. Enquanto mantém mais de 800 vagas abertas, incluindo posições voltadas à expansão de robotáxis, a empresa aposta em reduções cirúrgicas em vez de demissões em massa. Ainda assim, a pergunta que paira é se uma estrutura de RH mais enxuta conseguirá sustentar o ritmo de contratações e retenção de talentos que o crescimento da Uber ainda exige.
Uber is cutting loose nearly a quarter of its human resources division. The company announced this week that 23% of the HR staff—along with employees in recruitment, facilities management, and organizational culture—will lose their jobs as part of what leadership is calling a structural simplification. The cuts are being driven by Jill Hazelbaker, who was promoted three weeks ago to the newly expanded role of president and chief corporate affairs officer, a position that now encompasses HR operations, security, and corporate strategy.
The numbers, while significant in human terms, remain modest relative to Uber's global footprint. The company employs roughly 34,000 people worldwide, meaning these layoffs represent less than 1% of the total workforce. Still, the cuts are concentrated: many of those losing jobs held leadership positions within the People and Places division, the internal name for the HR and organizational culture group. The company has not disclosed the exact headcount affected, only the percentage.
What makes this restructuring notable is not just the layoffs themselves but the accompanying shift in work arrangements. HR employees who had previously been granted permission to work remotely are now being required to return to the office three days per week—a mandate that has been in place company-wide since June of last year. For those keeping their jobs, the message is clear: the company is tightening its grip on how and where work happens.
Hazelbaker's internal memo to affected teams framed the cuts as a necessary correction. She wrote that as the company has grown, parts of the organization have become unnecessarily complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities, unclear accountability, and teams operating too far removed from the business units they support. The goal, she suggested, is to strip away that complexity and make the organization leaner and more responsive. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi echoed this in a separate message to company leadership, describing the changes as essential to maximizing the effectiveness of the People team and positioning the company to capitalize on opportunities ahead.
Uber is notably not framing these cuts as an artificial intelligence play, which distinguishes it from the wave of tech layoffs that have swept through the industry over the past year. Other major technology companies have announced massive workforce reductions while claiming they need to redirect resources toward AI development and efficiency gains. Uber's approach is different: the company is pursuing more targeted, surgical cost reductions while simultaneously maintaining an aggressive hiring posture. The company currently has more than 800 open positions, including roles focused on robotaxi commercialization and other growth initiatives. Last month, Uber did signal that it would slow its hiring pace somewhat, citing the internal deployment of AI tools, but the company is not using AI as the primary justification for these particular cuts.
This is not Uber's first time reaching for the restructuring knife. In 2023, the company cut its recruitment team and shuttered Cornershop, its online grocery delivery subsidiary. What's different now is the scope of the reorganization and the visibility of its new leader. Hazelbaker's promotion signals a consolidation of power around corporate operations and external relations—areas that have become increasingly important as Uber navigates regulatory scrutiny, safety concerns, and the competitive pressures of its core ride-hailing and delivery businesses. The question now is whether this leaner HR structure will actually deliver the efficiency gains Hazelbaker and Khosrowshahi are promising, or whether the company will find itself struggling to recruit and retain talent in a competitive market.
Citações Notáveis
As the organization grew, it became excessively complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities and teams operating too far removed from the business units they support— Jill Hazelbaker, Uber president and chief corporate affairs officer
These changes are necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the People team and leverage the enormous potential ahead— Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why cut HR specifically? Isn't that the department that helps you hire and keep people?
That's the paradox at the center of this. Hazelbaker's argument is that the HR function itself had become bloated—too many layers, too much bureaucracy, people not connected to the actual business. She's betting that a smaller, flatter HR team will be more efficient. Whether that works depends on whether the remaining people can handle the load.
And the remote work thing—forcing people back to the office while laying them off. That seems harsh.
It does. The timing is awkward. But from the company's perspective, it's part of the same logic: they want more visibility, more integration between teams. Three days in the office is their standard now. For the people being let go, it's just another layer of disruption. For those staying, it's a signal about what the culture is becoming.
Is Uber in financial trouble? Why the cost-cutting?
Not in the way some tech companies are. Uber is profitable now. But the company is always optimizing—looking for ways to run leaner, move faster. This isn't desperation. It's the opposite: it's confidence that they can do more with less.
What about the 800 open positions? How do you cut HR and hire at the same time?
They're hiring for growth areas—robotaxis, expansion markets. They're cutting overhead. It's a reallocation, not a contraction. The company is saying: we don't need as much HR infrastructure, but we do need engineers and robotaxi specialists.
Will this actually work?
That's the real question. Hazelbaker is betting that the organization was genuinely over-engineered. If she's right, this makes Uber faster and more efficient. If she's wrong, the remaining HR team gets crushed, and the company starts losing people it wanted to keep.