1 out of 10 jobs lost
Currently, Groupon employs 10,686 people, which means that one out of each ten jobs will be lost. The company will also pull out of Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay. The company had already left Greece and Turkey last month and sold its majority stake in South Korean Ticket Monster in March.
Groupon was active in more than 40 countries when it was at the peak of its popularity, but its international activities are not going as fluently as expected – especially as it has not been able to strike any long-term deals. This is why the board has now intervened: “We need to focus our energy and dollars on fewer countries. Evolution is hard, but it’s a necessary part of our journey“, COO Rich Williams said in a blog on the website.
The entire ordeal will cost Groupon some 35 million dollars, mainly because it will have to pay severance packages.
