Uber Fires 3,500 Employees Over A Three-Minute Zoom Call

Losing our jobs was one of the main concerns we all had ever since the pandemic-related lockdown led to an economic slowdown. While some of us managed to keep safe, others weren't so lucky.

In a three-minute Zoom call to its employees, Uber laid off 3,500 employees which made up for 14% of its workforce. Several organisations have had to take the difficult decision of laying off employees but Uber is facing criticism for the way the information was passed on to the workers.

AFP

According to a Daily Mail report, head of Uber's customer service, Ruffin Chaveleau had to be the bearer of the bad news. She reportedly told employees, "We are eliminating 3,500 frontline customer support roles. Your role is impacted and today will be your last working day with Uber."

The company has made a statement saying that since their rides business has been slashed into half, they do not have enough work for customer support employees and hence, had to let them go.

Watch Uber exec gather 3,500 employees on a Zoom call, then lay them all off with no notice or warning. pic.twitter.com/15OyAkmrOU

¡ª Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 11, 2020

The report further adds that while delivering the news, Chaveleau had a weak moment and broke down. She admitted that it is worse to be on the receiving end of the news and thanked the employees for their hard work that they put in the company.

Daily Mail

However, employees are extremely disgruntled and undoubtedly angry at the short notice and how making one single call to 3,500 was extremely impersonal. The employees have reportedly received severance pay.