Uber CEO Says Corporate Job Cuts Could Help Lower Ride Prices

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company’s recent corporate workforce reduction could eventually benefit customers through lower ride prices and other improvements.

Earlier this month, Uber announced plans to eliminate around 10% of its workforce, affecting approximately 3,300 corporate employees. Khosrowshahi said the move is intended to simplify the company’s management structure and reduce organizational complexity, particularly as autonomous taxi services create increasing competition in some markets.

The CEO previously said the savings generated by the cuts would be directed back into the business through investments in growth, innovation and important capabilities. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, he provided more detail, saying some of those savings could be used to reduce prices and improve the range of options available to customers.

Khosrowshahi also pointed to changes in Uber’s insurance costs. The company had previously reported that U.S. mobility insurance expenses per ride had risen by more than 50% over several years through the first quarter of 2025. According to Khosrowshahi, that trend has since changed, allowing Uber to use some of the resulting savings toward lower consumer prices.

Another part of the strategy involves using margins from higher-priced services such as Uber Black to support lower-cost offerings. Customers could benefit through cheaper rides or additional saving opportunities, including programs such as Wait & Save, which offers a discount to riders who are willing to wait longer for a pickup.

Uber’s shares rose nearly 2% following the announcement of the layoffs earlier this month. The company had also reported double-digit year-over-year revenue growth and its strongest increase in first-time users over the past year compared with the same period during the previous five years.

Despite these developments, Uber’s stock remains down about 12.5% for the year. Analysts have also highlighted autonomous vehicle companies as a potential challenge for the company’s rideshare business. Uber has an exclusive partnership with Waymo in Austin and Atlanta, although the relationship has become strained. Waymo told Uber in July that it plans to offer rides through its own application alongside Uber beginning in 2028. Waymo also began autonomous rideshare operations in Nashville through a partnership with Lyft last week.

Uber is among several companies announcing layoffs during September. According to Layoff.fyi, more than 5,000 workers across 13 companies had been laid off during the month so far, compared with more than 26,000 layoffs across 50 companies in June.

While workforce reductions are traditionally associated with weaker growth or financial pressure, some recent technology-sector layoffs have received a more positive market response as companies use artificial intelligence to improve productivity. Khosrowshahi said AI has contributed to productivity gains for Uber as well.

Other companies have also pursued significant workforce reductions as part of AI-focused efficiency efforts. Block, led by Jack Dorsey, saw its stock rise by roughly 24% earlier this year after announcing plans to reduce its workforce by 40%.

However, large-scale workforce restructuring does not always produce the intended results. Meta, after cutting 10% of its employees earlier this year and moving around 7,000 employees, including some former managers, to a new AI-focused team, later asked some of those employees to return to management positions.