In a refreshing show of backbone rarely seen in corporate America these days, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi pushed back against entitled employees whining over a modest return-to-office policy and a tweak to the company’s lavish sabbatical program. During a tense all-hands meeting last week, Khosrowshahi delivered a dose of reality that triggered the tech elite: “It is what it is.”
The controversy erupted after Uber announced it was raising its in-office requirement from two to three days per week—a bare minimum by traditional standards—and adjusting its generous paid sabbatical program, shifting eligibility from five years to eight. For employees used to Silicon Valley’s pampering culture of yoga rooms, kombucha taps, and endless remote work, the move was apparently too much to bear.
“If you’re here for a sabbatical and this change causes you to change your mind, it is what it is,” Khosrowshahi said unapologetically, according to leaked audio obtained by CNBC. “We recognize some of these changes are going to be unpopular with folks. This is a risk we decided to take.”
Translation: Uber’s here to build a business, not coddle employees into early burnout with endless perks and remote work schemes.
The shift is part of a broader trend in the tech industry as once-cushy companies like Google, Salesforce, and now Uber begin pulling back the pandemic-era safety net. These firms are finally realizing that productivity, innovation, and collaboration don’t thrive in pajama-clad Zoom culture.
Predictably, the backlash came fast. Staffers flooded the company’s internal Slido forum with grievances. One employee lamented, “How is five years of service not a tenured employee?” while others cried foul over pre-paid sabbatical trips. Some even accused management of trying to drive attrition through policy changes—because, heaven forbid, companies expect accountability and performance.
Khosrowshahi wasn’t having it. He made it clear that this wasn’t about layoffs or attrition. “The business is operating really, really well. But listen, good isn’t good enough for us. We have to be great as a company.”
And unlike other CEOs who tiptoe around woke workplace outrage, Khosrowshahi didn’t blink. He emphasized that what matters is not benefits, but an employee’s impact on the company. That’s a radical idea in the modern workplace, where many employees seem more invested in remote privileges than results.
Uber’s Chief People Officer, Nikki Krishnamurthy, later rebuked some of the more out-of-line comments made by staff, reminding them that while the company values transparency, “behavior like this makes it harder to continue being open in the same way.”
The return-to-office policy, first introduced with “anchor days” in 2022, now requires staff to be in-office three days per week. Some employees grumbled about meeting room shortages, to which Uber responded with plans to add 700,000 square feet of office space by 2026. In the meantime, the company will be tracking attendance.
Bottom line: Uber is finally waking up to the reality that hard work, in-person collaboration, and accountability are key to long-term success. And if that means some pampered tech workers quit over losing a sabbatical? As Khosrowshahi put it—“it is what it is.”
