New job map details staggering scope of Uber’s global expansion

Even amid all the controversies and backlash Uber continues to face, the company is marching ahead with an audacious global expansion plan.

The speed and size of this push may help explain why the company is reportedly raising another massive round of funding — and why investors think it may be worth up to $40 billion.

Uber raised $1.1 billion back in June to fuel its global expansion. Now, a map produced by Silk, a data visualization company, provides clear evidence of just how far and fast Uber has expanded using that cash.

You can see the map here. It’s interactive, so you can sort by country and job type.

But here are some of the most eye-popping stats the folks at Silk discovered:

• Uber has 543 job openings in 55 countries. That figure doesn’t include recruitment of drivers. These are core jobs like design, engineering, finance, and marketing.
• The majority of those job opening are outside North America: 322.
• Between September and November, India saw a bigger increase in Uber job postings than any other country.
• Since September, Uber has posted job openings in 11 new countries. The biggest of that new crop is the Netherlands, with 24 job openings.

Will the company’s latest PR storm derail this momentum? That remains to be seen.

But the sheer scale of Uber’s global footprint, plus a fresh infusion of VC cash, shows us how Uber is able to shrug off regulatory hiccups and controversies like the one surrounding an executive’s remarks about possibly going after journalists: The drumbeat of announcements about expansions, hiring, and growth will likely drown out any other noise surrounding this juggernaut.