Uber laying off 3,700 as ride-hailing demand falls

Uber said Wednesday it’s cutting 3,700 full-time workers, about

14 percent of its workforce, as people fearful of infection either stay indoors or try to limit contact with others to minimize risk when they do venture out. Its main rival, Lyft, and home-sharing service Airbnb also have announced cuts because of falling usage.

Ride-hailing companies were struggling to demonstrate a path to profitability before the pandemic began. And no one knows whether the companies that rely on sharing back seats and living rooms will survive after the pandemic is over.

“We cannot predict the trajectory or timing of the eventual recovery, but it’s clear that macro trends will continue to negatively impact our business,” said Logan Green, co-founder and CEO of Lyft, in a conference call with investors Wednesday.

Uber’s layoffs and related costs such as severance will cost about

$20 million for the San Francisco-based company, which had imposed a hiring freeze.

Uber has offered up to 14 days of financial help to drivers and delivery workers who were diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease or placed in quarantine.

Also, Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, will waive his base salary through year-end.

Those ride-hailing drivers still on the road are trying to avoid infection and patch together enough fares to put dinner on the table even as ridership plummets.

“A lot of us are living on the razor’s edge of homelessness,” said Jerome Gage, 28, who drives for Lyft in Los Angeles. “We have to work or we don’t eat.”