Uber is cracking down on remote work, return-to-office plans, and other benefits.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the changes might prompt Uber employees to look for jobs elsewhere.
Tech companies have been pulling back on remote work and other employee benefits.
Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi is perfectly OK with employees who don’t agree with him wanting to jump ship.
Khosrowshahi has recently made a slew of changes that might rub some workers the wrong way. He wants corporate employees back in the office at least three days a week, is asking remote workers to return to the office, and is extending the number of years people have to work before being offered a paid sabbatical.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Khosrowshahi said these changes could push some employees away, but they’re in luck.
“The good news is the economy is still really strong. The job market is strong,” he said. “People who work at Uber, they have lots of opportunities everywhere.”
Hedging his comments, Khosrowshahi said that the company would, of course, like the employees to stick around but that the changes are sticking around.
“We want them, obviously, to take the opportunity with us, to take the opportunity to learn,” Khosrowshahi added.
“We want more people in the office,” Khosrowshahi said, adding that the revised policy gives employees flexibility to work from home two days a week, on Monday and Friday.
“It’s the right mix of giving your employees flexibility but also getting them to the office for those all-important teamwork tasks,” he said.
An Uber spokesperson said the changes weren’t related to planned layoffs or meant to drive attrition. Starting in June, employees are expected to work in the office three days a week.
Big Tech companies have been cutting or revising various employee benefits over the past few years.
Recent changes to Amazon’s compensation structure, for instance, reward top-performing employees and reduce what some low-performing workers earn.
Lately, though, some tech executives have given their staff a choice to either “disagree and commit” to the changes or leave the company.
Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, told employees that it was their choice after the company rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and said it would cut its low-performing employees.
There have also been multiple rounds of layoffs at Big Tech firms. Some companies, such as Microsoft, have explicitly made job cuts based on job performance.
