Uber's 'rigorous' performance review system could see employees getting fired
What's the story
Uber is not planning broad layoffs. However, the company's performance review process, which is going to be "even more rigorous," might result in some employees getting fired. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Well, to make matters more complicated, the ride-hailing company actually plans to hire to fill the positions that are left empty after the reviews.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Uber's plan to implement a rigorous review process comes amid rampant layoffs in the technology sector. Some of the biggest names in the industry, including Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta, have axed employees. The phenomenon that began last year has continued this year as well. According to Layoffs.fyi, a tech layoff tracking website, 108,986 employees have been fired this year alone.
No mass layoffs
No company-wide layoffs: Uber CEO
Uber does not plan to lay off employees. Instead, the upcoming performance reviews will be more stringent than usual. This is in line with what the company's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said at the Davos World Economic Forum in January. He said that Uber has no plans of conducting mass layoffs and that the company has been working on cutting costs much before others.
Cuts
Uber plans to backfill impacted roles
Uber has confirmed that its stance hasn't changed from what the CEO said last month. "This year, we've taken an even more rigorous approach to our performance review process to ensure our talent bar remains very high," a company representative said. "We plan to backfill these positions and will continue to invest in attracting and retaining top talent at Uber," they added.
Not unusual
The company aims to impose higher standards
Companies firing some employees after the annual performance review process is unusual. However, it is unclear how many staffers will be affected by Uber's "rigorous approach." Considering the company's stance about maintaining the headcount, this decision must be aimed at holding employees to higher standards. Meta also did something similar this year, with the company giving about 7,000 employees subpar reviews.
Quarter
Uber's Q4 was the 'strongest quarter ever'
The last quarter of 2022 was a good one for Uber. CEO Khosrowshahi called it the company's "strongest quarter ever." In the last three months of 2022, it earned $8.6 billion in revenue with a net income of $595 million. Uber completed 2.1 billion trips in the fourth quarter, up from 1.7 billion in the prior year.