Uber is planning on tightening the purse strings this yr. In an electronic mail to staff shared with CNBC, the ride-hailing agency’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi mentioned the corporate would reduce on spending amidst a “seismic shift” in investor sentiment. First up on the chopping block are advertising and marketing and incentives, also referred to as Uber’s numerous perks for purchasers and drivers that embrace sign-up bonuses and experience reductions. Although Khosrowshahi didn’t point out within the e-mail, he made clear that any new hiring on the firm could be handled as “a privilege.”

“We have to make sure our unit economics work before we go big. The least efficient marketing and incentive spend will be pulled back. We will treat hiring as a privilege and be deliberate about when and where we add headcount. We will be even more hardcore about costs across the board,” wrote Khosrowshahi.

The firm’s quarterly earnings name final week contained each excellent news and dangerous information: Uber’s $6.9 billion in for the primary quarter of 2022 was a staggering 136 p.c improve from the identical interval final yr. It’s clear that demand is returning to pre-pandemic ranges. But the corporate additionally misplaced $5.6 billion attributable to its many investments, which embrace abroad ride-sharing apps. Uber usually buys a stake in native opponents or outright. But this technique can backfire, because it did with Chinese ride-hailing agency Didi. Uber bought its stake in Didi final yr after its worth in below a few weeks. It’s additionally trying to pace up the sale of its 29 p.c stake in Russia’s ride-hailing platform .

Uber’s incentives program has boosted new driver sign-ups and ridership, however has additionally led to important losses for the corporate. The firm a $509 million loss final August, solely attributable to its heavy spending on sign-up bonuses it used to lure drivers again on the highway.

The rideshare platform plans on focusing much more on Uber Eats and its new program, which companies can use to ship packages. Uber’s supply enterprise posted in income for the primary quarter of 2022, and at present has a document variety of retailers.

“Investors are happy with Delivery’s growth coming out of the pandemic and see that we have performed better than many other pandemic winners. I must admit that was a bit of a surprise for me because I firmly believe Delivery should be growing even faster,” wrote Khosrowshahi.