Uber cuts 23% of People and Places roles as Jill Hazelbaker consolidates oversight

Uber Technologies is cutting about 23% of roles in its People and Places division, the unit that oversees human resources, recruiting, workplace operations and employee culture, according to reporting on a company memo and subsequent statements to the media. The affected roles were described as representing well under 1% of Uber’s roughly 34,000-person global workforce, though the company did not provide an exact headcount number.

The layoffs were tied to internal messaging from CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who told employees that “changes are necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the People team and the enormous potential ahead of us.” That framing, reported by CNBC and carried in later coverage, emphasized organizational effectiveness rather than a specific external trigger for the reductions.

People and Places is central to how Uber runs its corporate workforce, including recruiting and employee relations, as well as workplace and culture-related functions. On Uber’s recruiting site, the People and Places team description highlights roles supporting and developing the people who “power Uber,” including sub-functions such as employee relations and talent-related work.

The move comes as Uber reshapes corporate leadership. Jill Hazelbaker, who was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer in May 2026, has expanded responsibility that includes human resources and recruiting, along with real estate and safety-related functions, based on Uber’s own leadership biography.

Reporting also linked the staffing reductions to Hazelbaker’s broader remit following the departure of Chief People Officer Nikki Krishnamurthy, whose role was reported to be folded into Hazelbaker’s new oversight scope. Axios and other coverage described the promotion as part of a reorganization of Uber’s executive structure, with Hazelbaker taking on additional corporate responsibilities.

While Uber did not spell out which specific People and Places sub-teams were most affected, multiple outlets described the changes as concentrated in that corporate division and involving many senior roles. Bloomberg Law reported that the cuts represented less than 1% of Uber’s employees, citing a company spokesperson, again without disclosing a precise number impacted.

Uber’s stock decline and valuation context formed part of the backdrop for the news coverage. Valuation aggregators using intrinsic-value and discounted-cash-flow models have indicated that Uber was trading below their estimated fair value ranges around this period, though such measures depend on assumptions and are not the same as management guidance or audited financial metrics.

The company did not disclose in the public reporting how quickly employees would be separated, whether job functions would be consolidated into remaining roles, or what the severance, transition support, and hiring implications would be for the rest of the People and Places organization. What it did emphasize, based on the memo quote relayed in media coverage, was a goal of maximizing the effectiveness of the People organization.