This decade, Uber causes a revolution in ride share and the way people go to and from. But there are setbacks. There are complaints of discrimination, harassment, even crime. Therefore, Uber cleans house: starts with twenty firings.
All 20 lost their jobs because of harassment complaints. Also, they hired two executives to redo strategies. But it’s not just angry customers writing letters. It’s much bigger. Even former Attorney General Eric Holder is helping out. This started with former employee Susan Fowler blogged about sexual harassment at Uber. Then, several Uber execs quit. Not even CEO Travis Kalanick is immune. A video caught him arguing with an Uber driver.
But it’s not just the twenty firings. Because 31 more are in counseling over harassment. But it’s not because they want to be. And yes, Kalanick is also taking steps as Uber cleans house. He got his top software engineer to resign. This was because of a sexual harassment claim against him at Google, his last workplace. Since then, Uber hired two women executives. One of them is also their highest ranking African-American executive. Her name is Bozoma Saint John. She praises these changes, but says more needs to be done.
I think Saint John is right. Uber grew so fast. Their focus was on ?growing the business and grow profits and revenue. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, that was every business should be doing, especially every IT service business. But I think in doing that, they slightly neglected the workplace culture. It can happen to the best of us. We get so caught up in the money and profits. We sometimes forget to think about who we’re bringing in and who could be getting hurt. If we create an, “Anything goes as long as we’re getting money…” culture, the result will probably be a culture of harassment, bullying and discrimination. ?I don’t say this is Uber’s fault. For the record, I am a huge fan of Uber. But that’s just human nature. I commend Uber for cleaning house. Is this a lesson for us all?