Pampered Uber staff have huge meltdown over slight tweak to perks that are envy of most American workers

Daily Mail​

07-05-2025

Uber employees revolted after the company's CEO announced a series of policy changes many American workers would consider more than generous.
Chief among the changes announced at a company-wide meeting last week was a new return-to-office mandate requiring staff to be in the office at least three days a week starting in June, a tweak to the current two-day mandate.
Uber also announced a revision to its sabbatical policy, saying that employees will be eligible for a month of paid leave after eights years of service, rather than the former five years.
Employee backlash was immediate, with frustration flooding internal forums - leading a top executive to condemn some comments as 'disrespectful.'
One forum 'essentially has been invaded by questions about the changes we've made,' CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at the April 29 all-hands meeting, adding that employee concerns were eventually consolidated.
Many employees called the new policy tone-deaf, given Uber's recent financial success and the effectiveness of remote work over the past few years.
Khosrowshahi defended the decisions, saying they were not taken lightly but necessary for collaboration, innovation and long-term productivity.
'It's hardly a surprise that not everyone was thrilled about changes to remote work and sabbatical policies,' Uber told CNBC. 'But the job of leadership is to do what's in the best interest of our customers and shareholders.'
Khosrowshahi emphasized the importance of maintaining a connection to the physical world.
'Our business also exists in the real world,' Uber Chief People Officer Nikki Krishnamurthy added, 'on the streets of thousands of cities, and it's important we stay connected to the places we serve.'
Employees must now be present on designated 'anchor days' - Tuesdays and Thursdays - and compliance will be monitored at both the team and individual levels, Krishnamurthy said.
Employees voiced concerns about overcrowding at offices, citing limited meeting rooms and insufficient workspace on 'anchor days.'
'It's a challenge every anchor day to even find a place to sit with your team,' one worker commented.
To address those issues, Krishnamurthy announced that Uber is expanding its San Francisco and Seattle offices by 700,000 square feet, with new meeting rooms and cafeterias under construction through 2026.
The update to the sabbatical policy similarly drew groans from staffers.
'How is five years of service not a tenured employee? Especially when burnout is rampant in the org,' one highly-rated employee commented, adding they had already paid for a sabbatical trip.
'This isn't "doing the right thing" for your employees,' another worker reportedly wrote, according to the New York Post.
Khosrowshahi was blunt in addressing those criticisms.
'If you're here for a sabbatical and this change causes you to change your mind, it is what it is,' he said at the meeting.
'I'm sorry about that. The reason we want you to be here is the impact on the company. The learning here. We recognize some of these changes are going to be unpopular with folks. This is a risk we decided to take.'
Though the benefit still exists, the change has fueled speculation that Uber may be trying to push out long-tenured workers.
'It has nothing to do in terms of a need to drive attrition or layoffs,' Khosrowshahi responded when asked whether the move was a covert strategy to prompt voluntary exits. 'None of that is planned. The business is operating really, really well. But listen, good isn't good enough for us. We have to be great as a company.'
After the meeting, Krishnamurthy issued a memo condemning some of the employee remarks made during the session, claiming they 'crossed the line into unprofessional and disrespectful.'
'That's not OK, and we will be speaking with the employees who made them,' she wrote.
'Through good times and bad, we are open with each other. Yet when we see behavior like this, it makes it harder to continue being open in the same way.'
Uber's decisions reflect a broader shift in the tech industry, where several major firms have scaled back remote work.
Companies including Amazon, Dell, JPMorgan Chase, IBM and Google have all pushed for a return to in-person work, citing the value of face-to-face collaboration.
Google recently warned employees they could lose their jobs if they fail to comply with its three-day office attendance requirement, TheStreet.com reported.