Taxi company Uber is cutting 15% of the jobs at its European headquarters in Amsterdam because of the ‘dramatic impact’ of coronavirus.

Some 1,500 work at the Amsterdam office, which would mean a reduction of some 200, the NRC reported. Workers were informed about the job cuts on Friday.

Staff who face losing their jobs will get a severance package amounting to two months’ salary plus half a month’s pay for every six months they have worked for the company, the paper said.

Uber sources told the paper the company had decided not to appeal for Dutch government support to keep paying salaries. A similar move by Booking.com was heavily criticised at the time.

Uber said in May it is cutting its global workforce by some 25% – or 6,700 jobs – in order to ensure its survival as fewer people take taxis because of Covid-19. In addition, 45 regional offices are being shut down.

However, the company’s plans to move to a new head office in Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district have not been affected, the Parool said.