US ride-hailing firm Lyft begins job cuts

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US ride-hailing company Lyft announced Friday it has begun a significant round of layoffs.

"We need to be a faster, flatter company where everyone is closer to our riders and drivers so we can deliver on this purpose. And we need to bring our costs down to deliver affordable rides, compelling earnings for drivers, and profitable growth," CEO David Risher said in a statement.

"We intend to use these savings to invest in competitive pricing, faster pick-up times, and better driver earnings. All of these require us to reduce our size and restructure how we’re organized," he added.

Risher did not comment on the number of job cuts but the figure could be at least 1,200 workers, or around 30% of the company’s total workforce which is around 4,000, according to news reports.

More than one dozen companies in the US, especially in the tech sector, have been cutting jobs as the industry is struggling with lower income, falling ad revenue and fears of a recession.

Amazon, Yahoo, Affirm, Zoom, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, PayPal and Google's parent, Alphabet, have laid off workers by the thousands in recent months.