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- Exclusive internal figures show that Uber’s staff turnover has recently increased.
- The pandemic is prompting many workers to change jobs, but Uber executives have had to tackle the problem.
- Some Uber staff accuse uninteresting leadership. Others say rivals and startups attract talent.
Uber is struggling to recruit enough drivers, but the company has other workforce issues to worry about. New internal figures show full-time employees are leaving at an alarming rate.
In recent weeks, Uber executives, including HR Director Nikki Krishnamurthy, have had to answer questions from employees about the company’s high turnover rate. Many executives and managers have left, including Haider Sabri, head of conductor engineering at
Uber eats
, Mads Johnsen, who led Uber’s business-focused products, and others at director level and above.
The trend goes beyond management. In June, Uber’s overall attrition rate was around 20%, according to figures shared with Insider. At Eats in particular, the figure was slightly higher. These rates are well above the usual level among teenagers, according to people familiar with the numbers. They asked not to be identified as they were discussing sensitive internal data.
Companies typically calculate these attrition rates by dividing the number of employees who left in a period by the overall headcount, and then canceling it over 12 months. Uber’s attrition rate in June means that over the next year a fifth of its workforce will leave if recent trends continue. Uber declined to comment.
This is a critical time for the company, which is trying to rebuild itself after the pandemic slowed down its ridesharing service. While Uber’s food delivery operations are strong, many analysts don’t expect the amusement ride business to fully recover for some time. The stock is down 7% this year, while the Nasdaq Composite index is up 15%.
The concern with a high attrition rate, said Uber employees and human resources specialists, is that the company could lose key talent, forcing executives to spend more energy on hiring new talent. substitutes rather than focusing on the business. A June internal email announcing new roles for two HR employees said they would be “hyper focused on recruiting and attrition.” Uber has hired more than 200 senior executives in the past six months, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Current and former Uber employees differ on why revenue is increasing so much. Some attribute this to longtime colleagues who are looking for new opportunities. With start-up funding plentiful and the pandemic giving people a new perspective, some have said it is a good time to start a business. And across the economy, more and more workers are quitting.
Others said it reflected Uber’s current culture and the leadership of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who, while much less tumultuous than Travis Kalanick’s days, may also be less inspiring.
An Uber HR employee noted that other companies are stepping up their hires. Indeed, Uber’s rivals are recruiting. Gopuff recently selected senior Uber Eats executive Jon Feldman to help lead the delivery strategy. In June, Instacart hired Laura Jones, a marketing manager at Uber, to become its new vice president of brand and marketing.
Uber management has sent mixed messages about the issue, according to some employees. In April, when the company announced its return-to-office policy, Krishnamurthy said internally that some staff may be leaving due to being in the office three days a week. And she was okay with that.
A few months later, the company revised its plans to be more flexible with those who prefer to work remotely. Some employees said they believed this was due to higher than expected revenue.
Staff have raised these issues at recent general company meetings. About two weeks ago, Krishnamurthy addressed the point specifically, acknowledging that the attrition was higher than the top management wanted. But she also said the problem was not unique to Uber and cited macroeconomic changes such as the pandemic.
Another executive, Uber Eats executive Sarfraz Maredia, was asked to specifically explain why revenue was particularly high at Uber Eats in the same meeting across all levels. His response was that while he regretted losing team members the next day he and others would leave.
Work at Uber? Do you have any advice? Contact this reporter by email at [email protected] or Twitter DM at @cityofthetown.
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