Uber to hire 140 engineers in Bengaluru, Hyderabad

Ride-hailing firm Uber on August 5 said that it is hiring 140 engineers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, after CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently said he wants to shift more engineering innovation to India.

Uber is hiring engineers in the fields of rider and driver growth, delivery, marketplace, customer service, digital payments, risk and compliance, safety and financial technology.

Jayaram Valliyur, senior director and global fintech leader at Uber said, "We're leveraging India's outstanding product and engineering talent to fuel our next wave of products and services. We're looking to hire engineers who're deeply technical and passionate about solving complex problems in the mobility and delivery space."

The Information reported on July 2 that Khosrowshahi wants to move more engineering efforts to India, as a cost-cutting measure, among other reasons. From 80 engineers in 2017, it has 600 in India today, the report said.

Recently, Uber's tech teams have been investing in building mask recognition capabilities, accelerating digital payments to promote social distancing and using machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML and AI) to onboard restaurant menus into the marketplace, the company said.

Uber's hiring also comes after a spate of layoffs globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has lowered the demand for ride-hailing services significantly. Uber laid off 600 employees in India in May, while it laid off 6,700 people, or 25 percent of its workforce globally in tranches.