MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Uber Technologies Inc. is laying off one-third of its marketing employees worldwide, or about 400 people, in a bid to cut costs and create a more centralized structure, media reported on Monday.

The decision to cut the global marketing team, which counted more than 1,200 people before the layoffs, was also announced internally, the New York Times said, adding that the company declined to comment further.

Back in June, Uber’s Chief Operating Officer Barney Harford and Chief Marketing Officer Rebecca Messina reportedly stepped down.

Uber, a transnational ride-hailing giant, went public in May after accumulating a significant deficit and record of scandals. Since then, the company went through a series of reorganizations among the executive team, which included eliminating the marketing branch and placing it into another operational unit.

Uber was created in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco. The company keeps 20 percent from each taxi ride of its drivers. Uber services are available in more than 100 cities worldwide.

Uber's privacy policy reportedly started raising concerns after the company disclosed information on hundreds of its users and riders to US law enforcement authorities in 2015.

It was further revealed that after the 2016 breach that affected 57 million users, Uber paid the hackers instead of reporting to authorities or customers. The breach was reportedly disclosed to the public only one year later.