More and more executives are deciding to quit the ride-sharing company Uber, leaving the infamously shady business with a shaky foundation and an uncertain future.
On March 19, the website Recode was the first to report Jeff Jones’ resignation as Chief Operating Officer of Uber after just six months in the position due to differences over “beliefs and approaches to leadership.”
The New York Times also reported Brian McClendon, vice president of Maps and Business Platform, plans to leave at the end of month. McClendon will be stepping down from Uber but will continue to be an adviser to the company.
A number of other departures from the company have also been reported recently, which could mean more trouble for Uber; even the company’s own CEO, Trevor Kalanick, is currently facing controversy. If you haven’t seen the video from a couple weeks ago of him yelling at one of his drivers, definitely give it a watch on Bloomberg or YouTube.
According to NPR, “Though Uber has long held its reputation as an aggressive startup, the company has been battling recent controversies, ranging from sexual harassment allegations to [CEO] Kalanick’s abrasive behavior.”
With rocky relations not only between drivers and those in upper positions, but also with customers, Uber’s future is not looking too bright. As they continue to lose revenue and employees, the substitute for taxis may not continue to be as successful as once expected.
Through all the bumpy controversies, Uber has been a pioneer in the rush for self-driving cars. The company began testing semi-autonomous cars in Pittsburgh in September 2016, but they’ve been running into a few problems – sources like Recode have obtained documents from Uber showing how the self-driving cars aren’t working as intended. In other words, the technology isn’t quite ready yet.
Will the company’s service of self-driving cars be their saving grace? Probably not, according to The Verge, which stated, “Uber has been engulfed in a new scandal almost every week for the past month, and every single day for the past two weeks, from allegations of a toxic, misogynistic workplace to the revelation that its self-driving cars were malfunctioning and possibly running on stolen technology.”
It just might be time to download Lyft or – gasp – return to the age-old tradition of hailing a cab. Stay tuned: the era of “Ubering everywhere” may soon come to a demise.
