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Reuters: Uber lays off 40% of Egypt staff

May 8, 2020 at 12:00 pm

Uber app [Flickr]

The ride-hailing company Uber has laid off hundreds of its Egyptian office staff on Wednesday, as part of global cuts it is carrying out amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.

Two Uber employees that just lost their jobs on Wednesday’s job cuts, and a third employee that retained their job, informed Reuters that they had been told that: “About 40 per cent of staff in Uber’s Egyptian offices had been laid off.”

Prior to the job cuts, Uber Technologies Inc. employed 650-700 office-based staff members in Egypt.

This: “Came as Uber announced it would cut about 3,700 full-time jobs globally, affecting 17 per cent of its employee count,” Reuters added.

An Uber spokesperson declined to offer details on the matter, but he told the news agency that Uber’s offices in 46 countries have been affected by the changes resulting from COVID-19.

While Egyptian authorities have taken a number of measures to contain the spread of the novel virus, such as imposing a night-time curfew and closing down schools and mosques, they have not imposed a general lockdown, nor have they banned taxis from operating during the day.

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