Uber cuts 23 percent of People and Places roles in San Francisco

Uber is cutting 23 percent of the jobs in its People and Places division, a change that will reach deep into the company’s San Francisco headquarters and the functions that shape day-to-day office life. The reduction hits the unit that handles human resources, recruiting, workplace facilities and culture, and Uber says the cuts amount to well under 1 percent of its roughly 34,000 employees worldwide.

The company is casting the move as a targeted reorganization, not a broad layoff. Still, the scale inside People and Places is meaningful because the affected jobs include recruitment and human resources staff, and many of the people being let go are senior employees. Uber did not disclose the exact headcount being eliminated, but the decision trims a core support structure for one of San Francisco’s signature tech employers.

The restructuring follows Jill Hazelbaker’s expanded role as president and chief corporate affairs officer, a move that added the People organization and safety operations to her portfolio. Hazelbaker said the goal is to build a “more connected, modern, operationally excellent organization,” while CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees the changes were necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the People team. Uber has also pushed back on the idea that artificial intelligence drove the cuts, even as the company keeps leaning into AI tools and autonomous vehicle partnerships.

For San Francisco, the story goes beyond one corporate reorganization. When a company that anchors a large headquarters campus pares back HR, recruiting and workplace operations, the effects can show up in hiring confidence, employee experience and the pace of office activity downtown. That matters in a city still trying to steady its recovery narrative after years of hybrid work, empty desks and uneven foot traffic. Uber previously told some remote employees in 2025 that they would need to come into the office three days a week starting in June, a policy that gives the People function a direct role in how aggressively the headquarters comes back to life.

At the same time, Uber is not retreating from growth. The company still has more than 800 open roles, including jobs tied to commercializing autonomous vehicle partnerships. In March 2026, Uber and Rivian Automotive announced a plan to deploy up to 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis, with initial launches expected in San Francisco and Miami in 2028. Uber and Lucid Motors also outlined a robotaxi program involving 20,000 or more vehicles over six years.

That split screen, fewer people in People and Places but heavy investment in future mobility, suggests a company reshaping its internal machinery while betting big on the next phase of transportation. It is also not new: Bloomberg noted Uber cut recruiting staff in a 2023 layoff round, a sign that the company has been recalibrating its people operations for some time.