Why Uber is cutting 3,300 jobs globally and shutting down in Nigeria

Uber is laying off about 3,300 people globally, roughly 10% of its staff in what appears to be its biggest cut since 2020. The plan is to cut management layers and invest more in its ride-sharing, delivery and robotaxi divisions.

No, the business is not in trouble. The move is more about a company deciding which parts of itself are worth keeping as it bets its future on driverless cars.

The numbers say Uber is fine

In the second quarter of 2026, reported on August 5, Uber pulled in $14.19 billion in revenue, up 12.2% year on year.

Net income more than doubled to $2.39 billion. Gross bookings rose 24% to $58.02 billion across 3.87 billion trips, adjusted EBITDA climbed 33% to about $2.8 billion, and free cash flow over the trailing twelve months crossed $10 billion for the first time.

Uber's revenue has nearly tripled in five years, so that isn't the problem. It is more about what happens to a human-driver marketplace when robotaxis scale.

Why the layoffs

In a memo titled "Building a simpler, faster Uber," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the business is performing well but has become too complex, with too many management layers along the way.

So it is flattening. Employees seven or more layers below the CEO will drop by 20%. Teams of one or two people are being halved. Delivery and engineering teams are being merged. Remote jobs are going away, too, with Uber only allowing less than 1% of its staff to work remotely, while global teams will be concentrated in its largest global hubs, New York and San Francisco.

What it means for Nigeria and other African countries

While there's no official statement from Uber Global regarding what it means for its operations in Nigeria and other African countries, the company's Head of Communications for East and West Africa, Lorraine Onduru, said the company remains deeply committed to Sub-Saharan Africa, where it still sees robust growth and long-term opportunity.