There’s no end in sight for Uber Technologies Inc.’s recent struggles, it seems.
Company president and second in command Jeff Jones announced his resignation on Mar. 19, after just six months on the job. The former Target Corp. chief marketing office was hired at the end of August 2016 to run global operations, marketing and customer support for Uber.
His exit follows a string of highly publicized controversies that have dogged the ride-hailing giant, such as sexual harassment and toxic workplace allegations, reports of difficult behaviour from CEO Travis Kalanick, undermining taxi strikes in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s initial immigration ban in January, and supposedly stealing trade secrets from autonomous car company Alphabet Inc. – not to mention its regulation issues in cities across Canada.
In a statement to Recode, the first publication to report his departure, Jones explained that “the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president of the ride sharing business.”
The departure also comes just weeks after a video surfaced online of Kalanick berating an Uber driver over fares at the end of February 2017. The incident spurred the CEO to announce that he would be seeking “leadership help” and would hire a COO to assist in that journey, which many insiders viewed as a demotion for Jones, Bloomberg reported.
According to Bloomberg, Kalanick sent an email to staff on Mar. 19 saying Jones “made an important impact on the company” during his six months there, and that “after we announced our intention to hire a COO, Jeff came to the tough decision that he doesn’t see his future at Uber.”
Kalanick went on to thank Jones for his time at Uber and wished him all the best.