May 10, 2022: -Uber is planning on focussing on becoming a leaner business to address a “seismic shift” in investor sentiment, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees.

“After earnings, I spent a few days meeting investors in New York and Boston,” Khosrowshahi said. “It’s clear that the market is experiencing a seismic shift, and we need to react accordingly,” Khosrowari added.

Tech stocks are plunging sharply from the increased coronavirus pandemic as investors fret over the prospect of an end to the era of cheap money that defines a historic bull market. The Nasdaq Composite is recording its fifth consecutive week of declines in the previous week, its longest weekly losing streak since 2012.

Uber slashes spending on marketing and incentives and treats hiring as a “privilege,” Khosrowshahi said to address the shift in economic sentiment.

“We have to make sure our unit economics work before we go big,” the Uber boss wrote. “The least efficient marketing and incentive spend will be pulled back,” the boss added.

“We will treat hiring as a privilege and deliberate on when and where we add headcount. We will be even more hardcore regarding costs across the board ,” he added.

It is making the ride-hailing giant the recent tech company warn of a slowdown in hiring. Last week, Facebook told staff it would stop or slow the speed of adding mid-level or senior roles while Robinhood is cutting nearly 9% of its workforce.

Uber now focuses on achieving profitability on a free cash flow basis rather than adjusted EBITDA, Khosrowshahi said.

“We have made a ton of progress in terms of profitability, which sets a target for $5 billion in Adjusted EBITDA in the year 2024, but the goalposts have changed,” Khosrowshahi said.

Uber’s revenues doubled to $6.9 billion in the first quarter, as demand for its rides business rebounded thanks to relaxing Covid restrictions. The company is relying heavily on its Eat food delivery unit to boost sales in the pandemic.

Still, Uber posted a $5.9 billion loss, which cited a slump in its equity investments.