- Uber laid off around 185 Postmates staff on Thursday, sources told The New York Times.
- This included Bastian Lehmann, the founder and CEO of the food delivery app, the sources said.
- Uber bought the app in 2020, and the layoffs feed into Uber’s plan to better integrate Postmates and Uber Eats, the sources said.
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Less than three months after regulators approved its $2.65 billion purchase of Postmates, Uber has laid off around 15% of the food delivery app’s workforce, The New York Times reported.
Among the 185 layoffs were Postmates founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann, as well as most of the other executives, three people familiar with the decision told the Times. Some of these will leave the company with multimillion-dollar exit packages, the sources said.
More could leave over the next few months if Uber doesn’t renew their contracts, the sources said.
Uber confirmed the layoffs to the publication, but did not confirm whether Lehmann was among those let go.
Uber operates Uber Eats alongside Postmates. Though both run as separate ventures with their own branding, the layoffs feed into Uber’s plan to better integrate the two food delivery services, the sources said.
“We are so grateful for the contributions of every Postmates team member,” an Uber spokesperson told the Times.
“While we are thrilled to officially welcome many of them to Uber, we are sorry to say goodbye to others. We are so excited to continue to build on top of the incredible work this remarkable team has already accomplished.”
Uber didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment on whether Lehmann was among those affected.
During the pandemic, food delivery services have boomed. Uber has traditionally generated the bulk of its revenues from its ride-hailing business, but during the pandemic, with fewer people traveling, Uber Eats revenues overtook its ride-hailing revenues for the first ever time.
The lack of travel has hit Uber hard. In the quarter to September 31, it recorded $1.09 billion in total losses. The company has yet to turn a profit in its more than 10-year history.
The job cuts at Postmates are in contrast to many other delivery services and fast food restaurants, which have taken on extra workers to meet accelerated demand during the pandemic. On just one day in March, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s announced about 30,000 new roles across the US.
Earlier this month, Amazon-backed food delivery firm Deliveroo, which rivals Uber Eats in the UK, was valued at more than $7 billion after raising $180 million in fresh capital.
Axel Springer, Insider Inc.’s parent company, is an investor in Uber.