Uber closes bulgarian office

The decision will affect dozens of employees and is part of a global cost-optimization strategy.

The ride-sharing platform Uber is leaving Bulgaria—again, and this time, possibly for good. Nine years after the service ceased operating in the local market, this fall the company will also be closing its engineering office in the country. When it first opened, it was Uber's first location of its kind outside San Francisco.

According to two sources, shortly before Easter, the team was informed that the office would cease operations in September. The reason—Uber aims to concentrate its engineering resources in India and the Netherlands. The company has also confirmed the planned change.

The Uber office in Bulgaria is downsizing its team after months of pausing new engineering hires.

The news of the upcoming closure comes after months of a hiring "freeze" for new engineering roles. As of February, the Bulgarian office employed 84 people—a declining number compared to mid-last year, yet still 20 to 30 people more than pre-crisis levels in 2019. The office has been operating since 2014. One of its last managers, Ivan Atanasov, left the company to become the director of Redis for Bulgaria earlier this year.

What lies ahead for Uber employees here? The options will be two-fold—relocation to India or the Netherlands, or compensation. However, the specific parameters have yet to be communicated to those affected. After seeking additional information from Uber, the following statement was received from the company: "In the coming months, Uber will strive to support all affected employees in exploring other career opportunities within the company. This does not affect other technical offices and talent centers of Uber."