More than 1,000 Uber employees have signed a petition calling for the board to reinstate Travis Kalanick in an operational role after he resigned as chief executive of the embattled ride sharing company earlier this week.

Mr Kalanick, who helped establish Uber around eight years ago and was instrumental in growing it into a transportation behemoth, announced last week that he would be taking a leave of absence for an unspecified period of time.

On Tuesday he resigned, buckling to pressure from major investors in response to a string of scandals that have plagued Uber in recent months.

Now though, a swelling group of employees has reportedly expressed their regret at Mr Kalanick’s departure – something that experts say underscores the popularity of founder-led startups on the US West Coast.

“Founder DNA is a precious asset and cannot be under-estimated,” Mood Rowghani, a partner with Kleiner Perkins, which is an Uber investor, told the Financial Times. “Founders may not always play the role of CEO but several great companies – most notably Apple and Twitter – that severed all ties to their founder eventually came to regret it.”

The petition reportedly calls for the board to bring Mr Kalanick back in an operational role, but does not demand that he is reinstated as CEO.

According to Recode, a tech news site, an email aoubt the petition which appears to have been written by a member of staff reads: “In just my first few months at Uber, Travis validated what I’d felt for a lifetime: that it didn’t matter where you’d worked. How old you were. How many times you’d failed. All that mattered was that you were capable of.”

It goes on to say: “Nobody is perfect, but I fundamentally believe he can evolve into the leader Uber needs today and that he’s critical to its future success.”

At the end of the email, the writer urges other employees to use a link to express their support for Mr Kalanick and show that they would endorse his reinstatement.

The announcement of Mr Kalanick’s resignation came after Eric Holder, the former US Attorney General, released a list of recommendations to improve Uber’s culture, which included relieving the CEO of some of his leadership responsibilities, in response to a deep investigation into discrimination and sexual harassment at the company.

In recent months, the ride-sharing company has frequently been pointed to as an example of what has culturally gone wrong with Silicon Valley’s booming startup scene.

Susan Fowler, a former engineer at Uber, posted a blog online in February that detailed sexual harassment during the year she spent at the firm, sparking global outrage.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Earlier this month Uber sacked 20 people, including some managers. Last week David Bonderman, the startup’s director, resigned after being accused of having made a sexist remark at a meeting to discuss how the group can transform its culture amid that probe into harassment and discrimination.