Uber Eats has decided to close its operations in eight of its markets, it announced on Monday with its operations in the UAE transitioning over to Careem, its wholly-owned subsidiary in the country.

Interestingly Careem has decided to layoff 31 per cent of its workforce.

“We have made the decision to discontinue Uber Eats in Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Uruguay, and to wind down the Eats app and transition operations to Careem in the UAE,” an Uber spokesman was quoted as saying to Reuters.

He added that this continues the company’s strategy of focusing our energy and resources on our top Eats markets around the world. According to Uber, the discontinued and transferred markets represented 1 per cent of Eats gross bookings and 4 per cent of Eats adjusted core earnings losses in the first quarter of this year.

With operations ceasing by June 4 in all the markets apart from UAE, about 50 full-time roles would be affected the company has added.

image Credit: Careem

Careem Lays Off 31 per cent staff
Interestingly ride-hailing app Careem, which will be taking over Uber Eats operations in Dubai, announced that it would be shedding 31 per cent of its staff to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on its business across the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan.

According to Careem’s Chief Executive Mudassir Sheikha, the company does expect a recovery until late next year with its core business having gone by as much as 90 per cent and its delivery business by 60 per cent in some of the markets it operates in. The company has also halted further investment plans in its mass transport venture.