A section of Uber employees has criticized the board’s self interest and short-sightedness and have asked it to ensure that former CEO Travis Kalanick makes a return to the ride-hailing firm. A petition towards the same has already been circulated among the employees and forwarded tot he company’s board.
The letter hosts around 1,100 signs. That is a significant portion of Uber’s 14,000 strong workforce. It has already been sent to the board and we now have to hear their views of the matter,
As per the letter:
As the folks who’ve actually worked alongside Travis for years to help create Uber from nothing, we are extremely disappointed by the short-sightedness and pure self-interest demonstrated by those who are supposed to protect the long-term interests of our company.
Yes, Travis is flawed, as we all are. But his passion, vision, and dedication to Uber are simply unmatched. We would not be here today without him, and believe he can evolve into the leader we need. He is critical to our future success.
The petition comes after Travis Kalanick was pressurized by investors to step down as the CEO of the company he created. While the board may have had its reasons for his removal — and yeah, Uber did get into a lot of trouble this year — it needs someone thoroughly familiar with the ins an outs o this business, who can get things back up and running again.
There is hardly any time to train a substitute. As such, the decision to force Kalanick to resign (when he had already taken an indefinite leave of absence) is rather strange.
Meanwhile, the board may or may not respond to the petition, it is totally their privilege.And something tells me that ate aren’t going to ask Kalanick back just because of a petition.
In response to the letter, an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch:
As you’d expect, the emotions around Travis’ decision are intense. We understand that, and we want all of you to know that he did not make this decision lightly. Stepping back now was his way of putting Uber first, as he always has. Travis gave more to this company than anyone. He had a deep and meaningful impact on countless numbers of people at Uber and around the world, and for that, we will forever be grateful.
