Uber fires employees over Zoom video call

As the world comes to a grinding halt due to the coronavirus pandemic with almost every segment of society being affected, including the ride-hailing companies, cab service Uber laid off 3,500 employees during a three-minute Zoom video call.

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During the call, Ruffin Chaveleau, the head of Uber's customer service said she wanted to deliver the news personally.

"I know this is incredibly hard to hear, no one wants to be on a call like this. We had to do this as quickly as possible so you do not hear it from the rumour mill," Chaveleau said.

Not just Uber, even restaurant aggregator Zomato has said it will lay off 13 per cent of its employees.

The Wuhan virus has hurt businesses, cab services especially.

Uber has reported a net loss of $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020. It has reportedly also withdrawn job offers that were made during final placements at India's top business schools but while it let go of its employees, Uber has also been expanding.

Reports say the firm is in talks to acquire Uber Eats competitor Grubhub despite firing several employees. Amid the pandemic, companies have been dumping staff on video calls as they continue to chase bigger profits.