Lyft’s new CEO starts tenure with layoffs, reportedly reducing 1,200 jobs

A traveler arriving at Los Angeles World Airport appears to be like for flooring transportation throughout a statewide day of motion to call for that ride-hailing firms Uber and Lyft observe California legislation and grant drivers “fundamental worker rights” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 20, 2020.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Journey-sharing app Lyft will lay off an important selection of staff one week into new CEO David Risher’s tenure, the corporate introduced Friday.

A spokesperson for Lyft declined to remark at the explicit selection of cuts, however the Wall Boulevard Magazine reported that the corporate would lay off no less than 1,200 employees, or round 30% of its 4,000-person personnel.

“I am confirming that we can considerably scale back the scale of the workforce as a part of a restructuring to concentrate on higher assembly the wishes of riders and drivers,” Risher instructed Lyft staff in an e mail that was once revealed on Lyft’s weblog. Risher’s appointment was once introduced in March and went into impact April 17.

Lyft inventory was once unchanged at the information. The corporate in the past lowered its headcount in November, reducing 700 jobs, or about 13% of the personnel.

“We wish to be a sooner, flatter corporate the place everyone seems to be nearer to our riders and drivers so we will ship in this objective,” Risher wrote on Friday.

Risher, a former Amazon government, instructed staff in a the city corridor a couple of weeks in the past that layoffs had been approaching.

Lyft has struggled since its IPO in 2019 as its number one competitor Uber has remained forward on the subject of marketplace percentage and marketplace capitalization. Lyft debuted at $72 and now trades beneath $10. 

“David has made transparent to the corporate that his focal point is on developing a really perfect and inexpensive enjoy for riders and making improvements to drivers’ profits,” a Lyft spokesperson instructed CNBC. “This can be a arduous resolution and one we are not making evenly.”

Tech layoffs started in earnest overdue 2022, and feature persevered into the brand new yr. Previous this week, Meta carried out a in the past introduced spherical of cuts. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and lots of different tech firms have jointly laid off over 172,000 staff in 2023, consistent with layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi.

Lyft stated the restructuring would not affect in the past issued steerage. The corporate is ready to record profits for the primary quarter of 2023 on Would possibly 4.

WATCH: Lyft company shake-up