Chastened Uber CEO seeks fresh start in Europe, promising 50,000 jobs

The chief executive of controversial online ride-sharing company Uber stuck a newly conciliatory tone on Sunday, promising to create 50,000 new jobs this year across Europe in cities that are willing to reach deals to help his firm operate. We want to make 2015 the year where we establish a new partnership with EU cities,” Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick told attendees at the DLD conference in Munich, Germany’s largest annual gathering of media and tech leaders. Four-year-old Uber, which helps users summon taxi-like services on their smartphones, has drawn a firestorm of criticism, even as it has continued to expand rapidly into more than 250 cities worldwide.

At the end of 2015, if we can make these partnerships happen, we create 50,000 new EU jobs.

Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick

Uber has faced regulatory scrutiny and court injunctions from its earliest days as a San Francisco start-up. In Europe, where it offers a range of local transportation options from professional limousine services to informal ride-sharing options, Uber has been hit with court injunctions in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain for violating taxi licensing rules. It has also come under fire for its aggressive response to rivals and critics as well as questions over whether the company has enough safeguards in place to ensure the physical safety and privacy of passengers using its services.

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