An executive at Uber laid off 3,500 of the company's employees during a three-minute Zoom call after the coronavirus pandemic has caused the ride-sharing company to take a massive revenue hit, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
Ruffin Chaveleau, head of Uber's Phoenix Center of Excellence, broke the news to the workers via teleconference call.
"Our rides business is down by more than half," Chaveleau told the thousands of workers who on a conference call. "There is not enough work for many frontline customer support employees."
"Your role is impacted and today will be your last working day with Uber," Chaveleau said. "You will remain on payroll until the date noted in your severance package."
Uber reported on its investor's website $2.9 billion in net losses and said it would freeze hiring along with letting go of thousands of workers in its corporate office.
"With everyone remote and a change of this magnitude, we had to do this in a way that allowed us to tell you as quickly as possible so that you did not hear it from the rumor mill," Chaveleau said. "I also wanted to deliver this news personally and just take a brief moment to thank you for your contributions to Uber."
An Uber employee who spoke to the Daily Mail under the condition of anonymity said the company could have handled the breaking the news in a better way. She also said more layoffs are expected.
"They gave us no notice," the employee said. "If I missed that Zoom call, I would have missed the news. We knew they didn't have the drivers' backs, but they don't have anyone's backs.
She added: "It was a 3,700-person live Zoom call. It was controlled. I would prefer to have had notice. The day before, we were told we would know in two weeks what departments would be let go."
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