Posted on 05/07/2020 1:54:49 AM PDT by fluorescence
Three marquee San Francisco tech companies — Uber, Airbnb and Lyft — which exemplified a new generation of megabillion-dollar startups, have now slashed staffs in response to the coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place orders.
Ride-hailing company Uber, among the city’s largest employers, was the latest to do so, laying off 14% of its workforce, or 3,700 recruiting and customer support employees worldwide, on Wednesday in the biggest round of layoffs to date for a San Francisco tech company during the crisis.
Uber’s smaller rival Lyft had 982 layoffs last week, or 17% of its staff, and will implement furloughs and pay cuts for hundreds more.
Vacation-rental site Airbnb on Tuesday said it would cut 1,900 jobs, or 25% of its workforce.
As the companies all acknowledged, their revenue has plunged as consumers stay home, and there’s no clarity on when that will change.
Following on the heels of layoffs at other Bay Area tech companies, including Yelp, Eventbrite, Opendoor, LendingClub, Zenefits, Patreon, GoPro, the RealReal and VSCO, the latest rounds underscore that every industry is exposed to the wrenching disruptions wrought by the pandemic.
“No one is immune,” said Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist and professor at the University of Toronto. “The recession — or depression — will bite everyone.”
San Francisco developed a love-hate relationship with the tech sector as Silicon Valley’s epicenter shifted here.
“The city may have congratulated itself on having the world’s greatest concentration of high-tech startups funded by venture capital, but it was always bemoaning the new urban crisis it faces, with techies driving up housing costs and gentrifying the city,” Florida said. “Now that may turn into (deeper) problems. When people are laid off, they can’t pay taxes.”
(Excerpt) Read more at sfchronicle.com ...
No worries. SF is a sanctuary city with unlimited resources.
I thought Cali outlawed “gig” workers anyway?
As as San Franciscan, I’ve often been asked, how in the heck has a city wedded to such half-assed, brain-dead liberal policies not collapsed yet? And my answer is usually two-fold: tech and tourism. S.F. has been kept afloat by a thriving tech industry, not only with companies like Uber/Lyft/AirBNB/Twitter/Salesforce in S.F. proper but also the well-heeled Apple/Google/Facebook/Netflix workforce that lives in S.F. but commutes to Silicon Valley. And then you have the tourists/conventioneers coming in to experience a sort of theme-park S.F. (Alcatraz, Fishermen’s Wharf, Lombard St, gays etc) from all over the U.S., plus Asia plus Europe.
I have a hunch that both of these pillars are going to be under some major stress over the next couple years. Should be interesting.
These are the full time HQ people getting the axe..
Yes I get that, but Uber and Lyft would be laying off support staff based on the California rule anyway. The “crisis” is an excuse (at least in Cali where the examples are cited).
Here is an update to Uber and Lyft compliance. They have been ignoring the gig law that went into effect Jan 1. California sued them on May 5. Uber stock popped 6.5% premarket. Looks like they got a pop from the layoffs.
I hope they prevail against this stupid law.
Assuming that these companies ever do come back to life, the REAL QUESTION will be: “Where do they hire their new employees?” Not necessarily in California, if they have a brain.
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