After seeing ride-hailing demand plummet because of the coronavirus pandemic, Uber Technologies Inc. is laying off 3,000 more employees on top of the 3,700 personnel who were let go earlier this month.

Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi announced the cuts in an internal email today. The email, which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal, also revealed that Uber is shuttering 45 offices worldwide along with two small units. These include the Uber Incubator unit that launched last year to experiment with new product ideas and the AI Labs team, which is separate from the company’s autonomous driving group.

“I had to make this decision because our very future as an essential service for the cities of the world — our being there for millions of people and businesses who rely on us — demands it,” Khosrowshahi wrote to Uber employees. “We must establish ourselves as a self-sustaining enterprise that no longer relies on new capital or investors to keep growing, expanding, and innovating.”

Uber’s autonomous driving group has reportedly been hit with layoffs as well. However, it’s expected to continue operating even as the company slashes operating costs to help it weather the pandemic.

Uber’s continued investment in self-driving taxis isn’t the only long-term bet it’s making to lay the groundwork for a future return to growth. Less than two weeks ago, the company led a $170 million investment into LimeBike Inc. in a deal that gives it the option to acquire the electric scooter startup outright between 2022 and 2024. Recent reports indicate that Uber is also in talks to buy publicly-traded food Grubhub Inc. in an all-stock deal. 

Uber’s food delivery business, Eats, was one of the few bright spots in its otherwise bleak first-quarter earnings report. Eats’ revenue soared 53% during the three months ended March 31 while gross bookings, the total value of orders made through the service, jumped 52%. But the unit is still unprofitable for the time being. 

“I will caution that while Eats growth is accelerating, the business today doesn’t come close to covering our expenses,” Khosrowshahi wrote. “I have every belief that the moves we are making will get Eats to profitability, just as we did with Rides, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

The Rides business, which covers Uber’s core ride-hailing services, is down about 80%. Food delivery is just one of the areas on which the company has tried to refocus in a bid to offset some of the lost revenue. It also moved into parcel delivery recently, launching a pair of services that enable consumers to send items to one another and businesses to deliver online orders.

Photo: Uber