'We recognise some of these changes are going to be unpopular with folks. This is a risk we decided to take'
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has pointed out that there are "lots of opportunities" elsewhere for employees who do not agree with the company's recent changes regarding hybrid work, according to reports.
The tech giant announced last month that employees will be required to come on-site three days a week, from Tuesday to Thursday, starting in June, CNBC reported.
It is also raising its eligibility for the month-long paid sabbatical benefit from five years to eight years.
The changes have been met with pushback from employees, CNBC reported that they "immediately swarmed" the company's internal Q-and-A forum.
Responding to the backlash, Khosrowshahi told CNBC in an interview this week that the "job market is still strong."
"People who work at Uber, they have lots of opportunities everywhere," he told the news outlet. "We want them, obviously, to take the opportunity with us, to take the opportunity to learn."
But he maintained that the changes would remain, saying that they want more people in the office.
"It's the right mix of giving your employees flexibility but also getting them to the office for those all-important teamwork tasks," he said.
Khosrowshahi also previously responded to the backlash from employees in an all-hands meeting following the announcement in April.
"If you're here for a sabbatical and this change causes you to change your mind, it is what it is," the CEO told staff in the meeting, as quoted by CNBC.
"I'm sorry about that. The reason we want you to be here is the impact on the company. The learning here. We recognise some of these changes are going to be unpopular with folks. This is a risk we decided to take."
A spokesperson from Uber said that it was "hardly a surprise" that not all employees were happy about the changes to remote work and sabbatical policies.
"But the job of leadership is to do what's in the best interest of our customers and shareholders," it said.
Uber joins the growing list of firms that are standing their ground following backlash for their additional office days order.
The CEO of Amazon Web Services, Matt Garman, also previously told employees who don't want to return on-site that "there are other companies around."
