Uber Cuts 10% of Staff and Exits Nigeria, Uganda

Uber Technologies Inc. is reducing its global workforce by approximately 10%, affecting roughly 3,300 to 3,400 employees, as part of a sweeping restructuring to simplify its organizational chart. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced the move to eliminate management layers and nearly half of the company's micro-teams, aiming to create a structure geared toward building rather than managing. The company plans to reinvest the resulting savings into growth and a $10 billion commitment to autonomous vehicle partnerships, including the launch of supervised autonomous rides in London.

As part of this shift, Uber is tightening its location strategy by concentrating global teams in San Francisco and New York hubs. The company now mandates that only about 1% of its staff may work remotely, with most other employees required to follow a hybrid policy of three days per week in the office.

Simultaneously, Uber abruptly ceased all operations in Nigeria and Uganda on September 2, 2026. The exit from Nigeria, where it operated for 12 years, occurred mid-trip for some users and followed severe macroeconomic headwinds, including currency devaluation and a 580% increase in fuel prices. While the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria denied that its regulatory disputes over liability clauses caused the exit, Uber cited a business review and a shift toward markets that support greater scale. The company remains active in other sub-Saharan markets, including Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.