Lyft To Lay Off At Least 1200 Employees
New Delhi, 22nd April 2023: Just days after its new CEO David Risher took over, Lyft is getting ready to fire hundreds of workers to reduce costs and bring its prices more in line with those of its main rival, Uber.
A significant percentage of Lyft’s more than 4,000 employees will lose their jobs, Risher, CEO of Lyft and a former Amazon executive, informed the company in an email posted online on Friday (April 20). It happened at the end of his first week as CEO of Lyft.
The Wall Street Journal stated that at least 1,200 employees will be laid off, while the message did not specify how many people will be let go.
Based in San Francisco Lyft said further information will be made public next week but declined to offer any other details on Friday.
Risher listed spending reduction as one of his key concerns. Risher claimed that by making Lyft super efficient, the company would be in a better position to cut its costs to win back customers who had switched to using Uber more regularly since it was charging less for the same trips.
It was a subject Risher emphasized once more in his email on Friday outlining his decision to reduce payroll, which excludes Lyft drivers who are categorized as independent contractors.
When Lyft plans to shut down its offices on Thursday, the business hopes to begin notifying employees who will be let go. After laying off 700 employees last year, it will be the second recent wave of job cuts for Lyft.
