Groupon Eliminating 500 Jobs as It Continues Restructuring Plans

Groupon will be eliminating another 500 jobs globally as it continues with its restructuring plans.

The firm said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it posted on its website Monday (Jan. 30) that most of these reductions are to occur by the end of the second quarter.

“The payroll actions under the second phase of the 2022 Restructuring Plan are estimated to result in approximately $70.0 million in annualized cost savings,” the firm said in the filing. “The company also intends to implement other non-payroll actions outlined within the 2022 Cost Savings Plan, including reducing technology, software and certain professional services costs.”

The local marketplace platform’s announcement comes during a new year in which several tech giants have announced layoffs, with Google parent Alphabet citing a “different economic reality” and Microsoft saying there’s a trend for consumers to “do more with less.”

Groupon said in the filing that this second phase of the company’s restructuring plan was approved by the board of directors on Wednesday (Jan. 25) and is a continuation of a cost savings plan that was announced last August.

The platform announced in August, at the time of its quarterly earnings release, that it aimed to lower its annual expenses by $150 million and execute a turnaround strategy.

The news followed a quarter in which Groupon’s revenue was down 42% year over year.

“Our overall business performance is not at the levels we anticipated and we are taking decisive actions to improve our trajectory,” Groupon CEO Kedar Deshpande said in an Aug. 8 press release. “We are significantly reducing costs, and based on the progress we’re making on our initiatives to drive customer purchase frequency, we are now ready to begin reinvesting in marketing to drive growth.”

Three months later, at the time of its next earnings release, Group reported it had made progress on the turnaround strategy and was well on its way to reducing its cost structure.

“At the same time, we are moving quickly to test initiatives focused on improving the customer experience and inventory density,” Deshpande said in a Nov. 7 release. “I believe that if we get these two strategic priorities right, we can do a substantially better job meeting our customers’ needs every time they come to our marketplace and driving them to buy local experiences and services from the Groupon marketplace more frequently.”