Uber Technologies announced a 10% reduction in its customer service operations, specifically within the community operations team, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. This decision is part of a broader strategy to streamline operations, enhance in-person collaboration, and integrate artificial intelligence more deeply into the company's functions. An Uber spokesperson confirmed that the company is working to "simplify operations, strengthen in-person collaboration, and continue to embrace AI."
Megha Yethatika, Uber’s vice-president of global community operations, communicated in an internal memo that the organization had become "too complex and siloed" to effectively layer AI on top of existing processes. She stated that while the department had made strides in using AI, an effective organizational structure was necessary to unlock its full potential. This move marks the first instance where Uber has explicitly linked layoffs to an AI efficiency drive.
This round of job cuts follows a previous reduction in June, where Uber cut 23% of its "people division," representing less than 1% of its 34,000 global employees. The July cuts also include a directive for employees in the affected team who had been working remotely to relocate to a hub office, aligning with Uber's return-to-office mandate. Uber joins other companies like Block and Oracle, which have also cited AI as a reason for recent job reductions. Despite these cuts, Uber is still actively recruiting for over 500 roles, including engineers to support its robotaxi partnerships, indicating a shift in its workforce composition towards technical and AI-related functions.
Oracle, for example, is noted as the largest single AI-attributed job cutter of 2026, with over 25,000 employees affected. While Uber's 10% reduction in customer service is modest in comparison, its explicit attribution to AI places it among a growing number of companies using AI as a justification for workforce restructuring. Analysts suggest that these actions signify a reallocation of capital towards advanced technical capabilities rather than just cost-cutting, with expectations of new generative AI voice or chat products from Uber within the next two quarters.
