Uber lays off 400 employees amid business slowdown

The ride-hailing company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on August 8

Uber's licence to operate in London, Europe's biggest economy, was not renewed. AP.

Ride-hailing giant Uber laid off 400 employees from its marketing team globally as the San Francisco company deals with concerns of business slowing down.

Uber reduced the 1200-strong marketing team by a third, according to a company memo. The move came as it tries to slash costs and streamline operations after it went public in May, The New York Times reported on Monday.

"Today, there’s a general sense that while we’ve grown fast, we’ve slowed down,” Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber chief executive, wrote in an email seen by Bloomberg. “This happens naturally as companies get bigger, but it is something we need to address, and quickly.”

Uber employs 24,494 people globally, with about 1,200 employees in its sales and marketing team, as of March 31, according to its latest quarterly report. The ride-sharing company listed on the New York Stock Exchange on May 10 at an IPO price of $45. The stock is currently trading nearly 2 per cent below the IPO price.

The company is under pressure from investors over heavy losses and Mr Khosrowshahi has started making make organisational changes.

Asked about the impact on its marketing employees in the Middle East, the company declined to provide a breakdown by region.

The global lay-offs mark the first major restructure of the marketing and communications team since long-time Uber executive Jill Hazelbaker took leadership of the team in June. She succeeded Rebecca Messina, the former chief marketing officer.

Ms Hazelbaker said the decision to lay off 400 people was made because the marketing team was overstaffed and decision-making was unclear, according to the The New York Times. The marketing team's organisational charts alone ran to more than 388 pages, she said.

Ms Hazelbaker said she plans to consolidate Uber's regional marketing teams globally, including in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Middle East, the newspaper reported. The marketing team oversees ride promotions, advertising campaigns and social media.

Mr Khosrowshahi and Ms Hazelbaker internally announced a new and more centralized structure for the marketing team, designed to build a "more consistent brand narrative across audiences, products, and regions", according to the company memo.

Uber agreed to acquire Dubai ride-hailing company Careem for $3.1 billion (Dh11.39bn) in March in the biggest tech deal in the Middle East.

Uber is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on August 8. Its first-quarter results marked its slowest growth in several years and a loss of more than $1bn.