Uber is cutting many of its 'micro-teams' and giving some middle managers more reports

As Uber cuts jobs, it's targeting immoderate of the smallest teams successful its org chart.

In a memo announcing layoffs affecting astir 10% of staffers connected Wednesday, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the ride-hailing elephantine would trim guidance layers and trim the number of "micro-teams" — those pinch only 1 aliases 2 nonstop reports — by astir half.

"The result is simply a simpler org floor plan geared toward building versus managing," Khosrowshahi wrote.

Uber's attraction isn't simply connected mini groups of workers. It's groups that travel pinch their ain guidance layer. The move comes astatine a clip erstwhile galore tech companies are looking to reconstruct org charts pinch less layers and much managers acting arsenic "player-coaches," not simply supervisors.

In immoderate cases, it's meant CEOs for illustration Meta's Mark Zuckerberg person touted the worth of the "tiny team," wherever elite labor do the work that erstwhile took legions. Coinbase announced successful May that it would person "no axenic managers" arsenic it shifted toward AI-native pods, including "one-person teams" successful which a azygous worker takes connected the activity of an engineer, designer, and merchandise manager.

For others, it's meant asking less mediate managers to oversee bigger teams — and sometimes return connected much hands-on activity arsenic well.

How AI is reshaping teams

These days, managers tin often oversee larger teams because AI is changing what they do, said David McJannet, cofounder of Dome Systems, a level for controlling AI agents. Instead of turning to a supervisor for guidance connected each task, workers tin usage AI for help, he said. Managers tin past attraction much connected mounting goals and checking that labor are connected way to meet them.

"The occupation of the head is little astir handholding," McJannet said.

However, location tin beryllium risks to trimming managerial ranks — and not only for those successful the middle. As managers are stretched crossed much reports and responsibilities, career improvement and mentorship tin fall to the wayside.

Paddy Lambros, the laminitis and CEO of Dex, which uses AI to link package engineers pinch employers, antecedently told Business Insider that the aggravated gait of activity has made managers' relationships pinch their reports "more tactical and transactional."

"It's not managing the human, it's managing the work," Lambros said. "And it's overmuch much descend aliases swim."

Some executives are successful favour of a displacement toward fewer managers overseeing bigger teams. Fred Voccola, the president and CEO of AI package institution Simpro Group, said this modulation needs to hap "faster and much aggressively."

A Gallup study published successful January recovered that the mean manager's span of power grew from 10.9 nonstop reports successful 2024 to 12.1 successful 2025. At Simpro, Voccola said, the ratio of individual contributors to managers has gone from astir eight-to-one to 17-to-1 arsenic AI helps labor nutrient more.

The exemplary requires leaders to lend straight to tasks, Voccola said. He calls it "hands-dirty" activity for managers. For example, he said he wants a main exertion serviceman progressive successful debates astir package architecture and a main trading serviceman penning copy.

That doesn't mean each mini squad wrong companies is obsolete. In his memo, Uber's Khosrowshahi said the institution would trim down the number of micro-teams, not destruct them entirely.

Kevin Kelley, Boston Consulting Group's world lead for organizational design, said location are instances wherever mini teams are the correct bet. For instance, caller initiatives mightiness commencement pinch only a fewer people. He said mini teams tin besides make consciousness erstwhile activity is highly uncertain aliases highly interdependent and requires elder expertise.

"A mini squad will really make consciousness nether those circumstances for immoderate play of time," Kelley said.

Micro-teams nether awesome pressure

For immoderate executives, the lawsuit for reducing the number of teams pinch only a fewer nonstop reports isn't solely astir cutting layers aliases costs. Bill George, erstwhile CEO of the medical-device shaper Medtronic, said specified teams tin deficiency the "diversity of expertise" to lick problems independently simply because of their size.

"We request to person a multidisciplinary team," George, an executive chap astatine Harvard Business School, said. "The problem pinch a one- aliases two-person squad is you only get a mates of disciplines."

George expects to spot much companies having managers oversee 15 to 50 people, though location is nary magic number for the due span of control, he said.

One extremity of stripping retired managers is to trim the layers separating activity from frontline labor — a constituent Khosrowshahi raised successful his memo, saying Wednesday's restructuring would trim by 20% the number of workers who are 7 aliases much layers from the CEO.

That tin springiness executives a much nonstop position of what is happening, George said, alternatively than relying connected accusation filtered done respective levels of management. That was his attack erstwhile he ran Medtronic. When the institution had accumulation problems, he said, he didn't want to perceive only from the value department.

"I'm going down to the level and talk to the group connected the accumulation line," George said. "They'll springiness maine the existent story."