Groupon is laying off 1,100 employees and shutting down its operations in 7 countries
(AP)
Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky
Daily deals site Groupon is laying off 1,100 people and closing down operations in 7 countries, the company's COO Rich Williams announced in a blog post on Tuesday.
The company will be cutting 1,100 jobs, mostly in customer service and in its international Deal Factory department.
"Evolution is hard, but it’s a necessary part of our journey," Williams said.
"It’s also part of our DNA as a company and is one of the things that will help us realize our vision of creating the daily habit in local commerce."
In addition, Groupon will be shutting down its operations in international markets including Morocco, Panama, The Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay. Last month, Groupon also closed its operations in Greece and Turkey.
“We believe that in order for our geographic footprint to be an even bigger advantage, we need to focus our energy and dollars on fewer countries,” Williams said in the blog post.
According to a document filed with the SEC, Groupon will incur its job cuts at a pre-tax charge of $35 million. $22 million to $24 million of those charges are expected in the third quarter of 2015. The restructure will be complete a year from now, in September 2016, according to the filing.
Groupon launched in 2008, offering its customers discounts at restaurants, spas, and retail stores. It's intended to be a way for small, local businesses to sell excess deals and inventory, and helps bring in new customers who may not have otherwise discovered these businesses. For a while, Groupon was the world's fastest-growing company.
You can read Groupon's full blog post on the restructuring here.
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