In 2017, Uber ($UBER) lost its license to operate in London after the Transport for London (TfL) deemed the ride-sharing company to be not "fit and proper" as a license holder. Since then, Uber has been granted two extensions, but that second one expired on Monday.
As the appeals process continues, Uber will be able to continue to operate in London. But in the meantime, hiring data shows that the company has essentially put the brakes on hiring in England as it navigates the London appeal process.
In March, Uber listed 49 openings on its careers site in Great Britain. As of this week, that number is down to just 21 openings.
None of this means Uber has given up on London by any means. Of the 21 openings, 17 are to be located in London.
|
City |
Title (Count) |
|---|---|
|
London |
17 |
|
Cardiff |
1 |
|
Leicester |
1 |
|
Liverpool |
1 |
|
Manchester |
1 |
The slowdown in England for Uber hiring is significant, however. It comes at a time when, overall, hiring at Uber is up after a sustained lull following massive operational losses.
Uber is no doubt taking its London license issue very seriously, as the city represents one of the company's top-five markets globally and is home to 45,000 drivers on the platform. Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo, and London combined last year to represent 24% of Uber's Ridesharing Gross Bookings.
Uber's London license loss stems from what the TfL called a "pattern of failures" that put into question the safety of the platform. Records show that 14,000 London rides in 2018 and 2019 were driven by suspended drivers who were able to bypass Uber app security using fake license information.
If the appeal does not side with Uber, the company says in its S-1 that the license loss would "adversely affect [its] business, revenue, and operating results."
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Uber hiring plummets as company deals with $5 billion in losses - here's what's been cut
- Digging into Uber as it preps for $10 billion IPO
- Here's who Uber is hiring to build its drone delivery service for Uber Eats
