Cab aggregator Uber India announced on Tuesday its decision to lay off about 600 employees due to the coronavirus crisis which has adversely impacted its services. Uber India's decision comes after the Centre, on May 17, extended the nationwide lockdown until May 31, but allowed several more relaxations outside containment zones to restart economic activity.
Uber India and South Asia president Pradeep Parameswaran in a statement said: "Around 600 full-time positions across driver and rider support, as well as other functions, are being impacted. These reductions are part of previously announced global job cuts this month."
"The impact of COVID-19 and the unpredictable nature of the recovery has left Uber India SA with no choice but to reduce the size of its workforce," he added.
Earlier, on May 14, the ride-hailing app had laid off nearly 3,700 employees or about 14 per cent of its workforce via multiple Zoom calls and each call lasted less than three minutes, with a common message: "Today will be your last working day with Uber", news agency IANS reported.
Last week, the parent company of Uber India, US-based Uber Technologies, said it would make a 23 per cent slash in its workforce, in order to become profitable amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On May 20, ts rival Ola announced that it is laying off 1,400 staff from rides, financial services and food business as revenues declined by 95 per cent in the last two months due to coronavirus pandemic.