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Uber pauses Dallas hiring, postpones some construction until 2021 because of coronavirus

The company doesn’t expect the moves to affect its long-term strategy for a Dallas hub.

Uber is pausing hiring for its highly touted Dallas hub and delaying some construction at its Deep Ellum location until 2021, the technology company said Tuesday.

The San Francisco-based company originally said it was halting all construction until next year but later indicated that work on an office tower under construction would continue as planned. Uber is postponing improvements to a single floor of a nearby 16-story tower that it’s now leasing, said spokesman Travis Considine.

“In the long-term, we don’t anticipate any changes to our strategy or expectations regarding growth in the state," Considine said in a statement.

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Construction on the 25-story high-rise that will eventually house Uber’s Dallas employees is still expected to be completed by May 2022, Westdale Real Estate managing partner Dennis Trimarchi told The Dallas Morning News.

Uber’s hiring freeze is unique to the tech giant’s Dallas operations, the company said. It didn’t say when hiring might resume.

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“Uber is grateful for the responsible leadership [state and local officials] have shown throughout this difficult time, and we look forward to getting back on track creating jobs and continuing to make Texas a hub of innovation when this is all over,” Considine said.

Uber had wanted to staff its Dallas office with up to 400 employees by the end of 2019 and 3,000 by the end of 2023. The company was already behind on its hiring goals. Uber said it had hired about 200 workers, who support the company’s transportation-related businesses, including ride-hailing, food-delivery and the development of urban air taxis.

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The August announcement that Uber would develop a corporate hub in Dallas was heralded by local leaders as a win for the city after Dallas came up short in the race for Amazon’s second headquarters, or HQ2. Uber was offered $36 million in grants and tax abatements by city, county and state officials.

Those incentives — $24 million of which would come from the state’s deal-closing fund used to lure business development to Texas — depend on the company’s ability to hit job-creation targets.

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