In a virtual Bank of America conference, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that the company’s ride hailing business is down 70% at this point, as compared with last year. This, while an obvious big drop, does show some improvement from the COVID-19 peak, when business was down 80%. Company’s rides business is improving on a week-over-week basis as countries start to lift coronavirus-led lockdowns.
But there is plenty of good news for the ride-hailing giant. Uber Eats, the company’s aggressively expanding online food ordering and delivery platform, is shaping up to be one of the stronger performers in the wake of people travelling less. Uber CEO said on Wednesday that Eats had more than doubled year-over-year as of May and that the gains are continuing to accelerate. The company has also been waiving delivery fees for independent restaurants in cities where they remain open.
On the positive side, the company stated that the countries who have been successful in flattening the curve and are seeing less COVID cases are helping the business pick up. For instance, in Hong Kong, the downs have reduced from 45% to 30%. On the other hand, in some other counties like the United Kingdom Uber is still facing massive losses.
The San Francisco based company, like the rest of the world, has seen unprecedented lows during this global pandemic. The company has done some of the biggest employee layoffs in the startup and ride hailing sector. In totality, it has laid off close to 6700 odd employees across the world, along with closing several international offices.
