# Uber closing some Aus offices and Auckland office, moving 20 jobs to Sydney



## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

*Uber closing Auckland office moving 20 jobs to Sydney*

Anuja Nadkarni
15:13, May 28 2019
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/113050510/uber-closing-auckland-office-moving-20-jobs-to-sydney
Uber will close its Auckland office and send 20 marketing and operations jobs to Sydney.

A spokeswoman for the ride-hailing company said the Auckland office* along with other offices in Australia were being closed to centralise the marketing and operations in Sydney as part of a regional restructure.*

Auckland staff could apply for the Sydney jobs and would be given preferance over other applicants, she said.

Uber's Auckland driver support centre, the Green Light Hub, will remain open but hubs in Wellington and Christchurch were closed in January.

Marketing made up the bulk of Uber's staff globally. The company spent US$3.2 billion (NZ$4.7b) in marketing ahead of listing on the New York Stock exchange on May 10, according to Business Insider.

Since Uber launched in New Zealand five years ago, a number of other ride-hailing companies have entered the market, including Kiwi company Zoomy, female-only ride app DriveHer and most recently Indian company Ola.

Last month, Ola New Zealand head Brian Dewil said the it had experienced 50 per cent growth month-on-month since launching in New Zealand about six months ago.

It also owns e-scooter company Jump, which plans to launch next month in Wellington and owns a stake in US e-scooter company Lime which already operates in Auckland, Lower Hutt and Christchurch.

Earlier this month Uber drivers around the world, held strikes and demonstrations in numerous cities to lobby for better pay and transparency, joining a growing movement to demand better worker treatment from tech companies.

Uber's IPO was labelled a "disaster" by share market analysts as its US$45 a share IPO price fell 7.6 per cent on its first day of trading, and tumbled another 11 per cent the following day, to a share. Uber shares were trading at US$41.51 a share on Tuesday.


*Uber NZ culling staff *
27 May, 2019 2:46pm


By: Chris Keall 
Business writer, NZ Herald
[email protected] @ChrisKeall
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12234776

Uber NZ is cutting a "significant" number of staff as it retrenches roles to Sydney, the Herald understands.

Over the past few months, departing senior staff have not been replaced.

And now staff still with the company are going through a consultation process, the Herald has been told by a close to the situation.
A year ago, Uber said it had 30 staff in its New Zealand office, located in the inner Auckland suburb of Kingsland.

As well as recruiting and overseeing around 5000 contract drivers, the local managers are engaged in regulatory issues, the likes of ongoing negotiations with airports, signing up companies to its business service that's taking on Corporate Cabs, pitching for council tenders and new and expanding initiatives like Uber Eats, Uber Walkers and the pending of entry of Uber e-scooters into the Wellington market.

An Uber spokesperson said, "Uber is committed to building a long-term sustainable business in New Zealand and we've just marked our fifth anniversary of operating here.

"We have proposed changes to our Auckland team that will see some roles centralised to Sydney, to help us drive efficiencies in our region and globally. Our partner support centre in Kingsland will remain open."

The landscape has changed since Uber launched in New Zealand in 2014.

A 2017 law change legalised ridesharing services, ending a cat-and-mouse game with police and traffic authorities.

But Uber now faces competition for passengers - and the attention of contract drivers - from the Indian-owned Ola to two home-grown contenders: Zoomy, bankrolled by the rich list Spencer family, and the all-female DriveHer, founded by Auckland man Joel Rushton.


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