Uber shuts its LA office and reportedly lays off around 80 people

• Uber is closing its Los Angeles office, reportedly laying off around 80 staff in the process.
• According to the LA Times, the staff were informed, without warning, that their jobs would be shifted to Manila in the Philippines.
• The ride-hailing giant has pruned back its corporate workforce significantly since going public in May 2019, culling over 1,000 staff.
• Earlier this month, Uber revised its own estimate for when it'll become profitable, from 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2020.
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Uber is closing its Los Angeles office, reportedly laying off around 80 staff in the process.

According to the LA Times, the office's staff were reportedly informed - without warning - that their jobs would be shifted to Manila in the Philippines.

Business Insider has approached Uber for confirmation.

The newspaper obtained a recording of the meeting in which the bad news was delivered. Ruffin Chevaleau, the head of Uber's Phoenix center of excellence (Uber's term for customer support office), was the person tasked with delivering it.

"We have decided to close the downtown LA office and we will be moving the outreach and innovation work to our Manila COE [center of excellence], where we can continue to support the business as it grows," she reportedly said.

"I know that this is a shock. This meeting is to inform you all that today is the last day in this office," she added.

The staff were also told by Chevaleau they would receive severance packages, could apply for other roles at Uber, and would have their relocation covered if they found jobs in other Uber offices.

Uber has pruned back its corporate workforce significantly since going public in May 2019, culling more than 1,000 staff as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi looks to prevent what he's referred to as "duplicate work."

Khosrowshahi also revised Uber's profitability forecast earlier this month, from 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2020.

Uber has never turned a profit despite being the world's biggest ride-hailing app, and despite going public in May 2019.