Uber Layoff 2026: What Employees Need to Do This Week

A layoff notice from Uber starts five time-sensitive clocks that most employees don't know about. Uber announced September 2, 2026 that it's eliminating 3,300 positions, roughly 10% of its workforce, in what the company called a move toward a "simpler, faster" organization. Engineering and management roles are hit across multiple offices. If you're in that group, the decisions you make in the next 60 days will shape your finances for the rest of the year.

What happened

Uber announced the layoffs on September 2, 2026 via a company newsroom post. The cuts affect approximately 3,300 employees, about 10% of total staff, and span engineering and management roles. At least 93 of those positions are at Uber's Seattle office in Washington state. The company described this as its largest workforce reduction since 2020.⁶

What should you do about unemployment insurance first?

Unemployment insurance is money you paid into through payroll taxes. You've earned the right to it. File the same day you're separated if you can.

California's maximum weekly unemployment benefit is $450 as of 2026.¹ That's not a lot, but it's real money and it starts the moment you file, not the moment you got laid off. California EDD does not backdate claims to your termination date, so every day you delay is a day of benefits you don't get back.

File at edd.ca.gov. You'll need your Social Security number, employment history for the last 18 months, and your bank account information for direct deposit. California uses ID.me for identity verification, so have a government-issued ID ready.

If you worked at Uber's Seattle office, you'll file with Washington State instead. Use the Washington Employment Security Department at esd.wa.gov.

One thing people miss: you must continue certifying for benefits every two weeks once your claim is active. Missing a certification period can pause or cancel your claim.

What should you do about your severance agreement?

Uber hasn't publicly disclosed its severance terms for this round of cuts. Whatever you're offered, don't sign it right away.

Federal law gives you time to think. Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), if you're 40 or older, you have at least 45 days to review a severance agreement when it's part of a group layoff program, and this qualifies, with 3,300 employees affected.² Even if you're under 40, most agreements can still be negotiated.

The 45-day window is a floor, not a deadline. You don't have to wait 45 days to sign, but you can't be pressured into signing before those days are up. If anyone tells you the offer expires sooner, that's worth flagging to an employment attorney.

After you sign, you still have 7 more days to change your mind. That's the OWBPA revocation window, and it can't be waived.² An agreement that doesn't include this language isn't compliant.

Things worth reviewing in the agreement: non-disparagement clauses, non-compete provisions (California generally doesn't enforce these, but other states do), whether it waives your right to file an EEOC charge, and what happens to your unvested equity.

If you're uncertain about any of it, an employment attorney can review a severance agreement for a flat fee, usually in a few hours. Many offer free initial consultations. Given the amounts potentially at stake, it's worth the call.

Use our post-layoff checklist to track each document you need to review before signing anything.

What about your health insurance?

COBRA is a federal law that lets you keep your current Uber health plan after you leave, but you pay the full cost. That means your share, Uber's share, and a 2% administrative fee. The average individual COBRA premium in 2026 is $703 per month.³

You have 60 days from the later of two dates to elect COBRA: your last day of employer coverage, or the date you receive the COBRA election notice.³ Don't confuse this with the date you decide, you elect COBRA first, and pay later. The coverage is retroactive to the day your employer coverage ended, so if you get sick before you've decided, you can still elect COBRA and have it cover that care.

Before you default to COBRA, check the Marketplace. Losing your job-based coverage is a qualifying life event that triggers a 60-day Special Enrollment Period on healthcare.gov.⁷ Depending on your income this year (which just dropped), you may qualify for a subsidized Marketplace plan that costs significantly less than $703 a month.

Run the comparison before your 60-day window closes. The two clocks run simultaneously, so you don't have to choose COBRA first and Marketplace later.

Do you have equity or stock options?

Uber is a publicly traded company. If you received equity as part of your compensation, your termination date triggers specific deadlines depending on the type of grant.

Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) have a 90-day post-termination exercise window under IRC Section 422.⁴ That means you have 90 days from your last day to exercise any vested ISOs and keep the favorable ISO tax treatment. After 90 days, they convert to Non-Qualified Stock Options (NQSOs), which are taxed as ordinary income at exercise rather than at the lower capital gains rate.

Exercising ISOs can also trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), especially if the spread between your strike price and the current fair market value is large. If you're sitting on a meaningful number of in-the-money ISOs, talk to a CPA before you exercise, not after.

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) work differently. Unvested RSUs typically forfeit at termination unless your agreement says otherwise. Any RSUs that vested before your termination date are shares you already own. RSU income is taxed as ordinary income in the year the shares vest, so check your recent pay stubs to understand what's already been reported.

Check your grant agreements, they're in your Carta or Shareworks account if Uber uses one of those platforms. Your specific exercise deadlines are in those documents.

What about taxes on your severance?

Severance is income. The IRS treats it as supplemental wages, which means your employer withholds at a flat 22% federal rate on the first $1 million paid.⁸

Here's the catch: 22% is the withholding rate, not your actual tax rate. If your total 2026 income puts you in a higher bracket, you'll owe the difference when you file. And your income this year includes whatever you earned at Uber before the layoff, any severance, any investment income, and anything you earn in a new job before December 31.

The Q3 2026 estimated tax payment deadline is September 15, 2026.⁵ If you've received severance already and you think your withholding is coming up short, making an estimated payment by that date can keep you from owing a penalty in April.

A quick rule of thumb: if your severance plus prior wages puts you in the 32% or higher bracket, set aside the difference between 32% and 22% from your severance now. Don't wait until tax time.

What happens to your 401(k)?

Your 401(k) balance is yours. It doesn't disappear when you leave Uber. You have a few choices.

You can leave it where it is if the plan allows it. Many 401(k) plans require you to roll out if your balance is below $5,000. Check the plan documents or call Fidelity, Vanguard, or whoever administers Uber's plan.

You can roll it into an IRA or into a new employer's 401(k) when you start a new job. A direct rollover (trustee to trustee) has no tax consequences. An indirect rollover, where the check is made out to you, requires you to deposit the full amount into the new account within 60 days.⁹ If you miss that window, the distribution is treated as taxable income, and if you're under 59.5, you'll owe a 10% early withdrawal penalty on top of it.

Don't cash out. The tax and penalty hit on an early withdrawal is steep. The 60-day rollover rule exists precisely so people don't accidentally trigger a taxable event. Use the direct rollover option whenever possible.

Deadlines and rules described here reflect federal law and general state guidelines as of the article date.

The Layoff Guide

The deadlines above apply whether or not you are tracking them. The Layoff Guide from Layoff HQ is a 33-page field guide that covers all twelve post-layoff deadline events in the order they arrive: unemployment, the severance review and revocation windows, COBRA and the Marketplace, your FSA, your equity window, your 401(k), and your taxes. Each event comes with timed checkpoints, the decision math, and the one mistake that costs people the most, plus a fill-in worksheet that turns your last day worked into your complete personal deadline calendar. One-time purchase. No subscription. Instant download, with a 14-day full refund if it is not useful.

Get The Layoff Guide, $39 or build your free Decision Calendar.

Written by the Layoff HQ research team. Sources verified against DOL, EEOC, IRS, and state workforce agency primary documentation.

1. California EDD. "Calculating Benefit Payment Amounts." edd.ca.gov. Accessed September 2026. California's maximum weekly UI benefit is $450.
2. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967." eeoc.gov. OWBPA requires 45 days for group termination review, 21 days for individual; 7-day revocation right.
3. U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. "COBRA Continuation Coverage." dol.gov. 60-day election window from qualifying event or notice date, whichever is later. Average individual premium figure: KFF, "Health Policy 101: Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance," 2026.
4. Internal Revenue Service. "Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income." irs.gov. ISOs must be exercised within 90 days of termination under IRC Section 422 to retain ISO tax treatment.
5. Internal Revenue Service. "When to Pay Estimated Tax." irs.gov. Q3 2026 estimated tax payment due September 15, 2026.
6. TechCrunch. "Uber is laying off 10% of staff, or 3,300 people." September 2, 2026. techcrunch.com. GeekWire. "Uber laying off 93 Washington state workers." September 2, 2026. geekwire.com.
7. HealthCare.gov. "Special Enrollment Period." healthcare.gov. Loss of job-based coverage triggers a 60-day Special Enrollment Period.
8. Internal Revenue Service. "Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide." irs.gov. Federal supplemental wage withholding rate is 22% on the first $1 million of supplemental wages.
9. Internal Revenue Service. "Rollover Chart." irs.gov. Indirect rollovers must be completed within 60 days of distribution to avoid taxable treatment.