Uber lays off 40 percent of its Egyptian staff amid coronavirus pandemic

Uber has laid off hundreds of office staff in Egypt after announcing global cuts amid the coronavirus fallout.

2 min read

08 May, 2020

Uber laid off approximately 650 to 700 people in its Cairo offices [AFP]

Uber laid off hundreds of office-based staff in Egypt on Wednesday, Reuters reported, the latest casualties in the ride-hailing company's global cuts.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on Uber's revenue worldwide amid lockdowns and movement restrictions.

Forty percent of staff in Uber's Egypt offices have been laid off. This amounts to between 650 and700 people, two former employees who lost their jobs and one current employee who kept her post told Reuters.

According to Al-Monitor, Uber's online interface stopped functioning for many of Cairo's Uber office employees as they were working from home on Wednesday.

While managers said it was due to a "global outage" of the system, the company's chief executive officer sent emails telling multiple employees that they had lost their jobs hours later.

Uber's laid-off employees in Cairo told Al-Monitor they have not yet received clarity from management regarding the "generous" severance pay and long-lasting health care packages promised in the email.

Also on Wednesday, Uber had announced 3,700 jobs would be axed globally, as its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi waived his $1 million base salary for the rest of the year.

An Uber spokesman told Reuters a total of 46 countries had been affected.

Egypt is the largest market for ride-hailing services in the Middle East and has been among Uber’s top 10 markets globally.

Last month, Egypt imposed strict measures to combat the coronavirus, including a night curfew and closures of schools, mosques and shops.

This week, Cairo has loosened its strict curfew for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in an effort to kick-start North Africa's largest economy.

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