Photo by Donnie Weatherhead
LivingSocial—the homegrown D.C.-based daily deals company—announced today a “corporate reorganization,” which translates to cutting 20 percent of its workforce.
A release from the company states that it’s closing its sales facility in Torrance, California, and laying off about 400 employees. The Post reports that this round of layoffs will affect about 100 employees locally, which will put their “headcount to roughly 1,600 worldwide and 400 in the District.”
In 2012, the daily deals company, amidst a year that saw $566 million in losses in the third quarter alone, eliminated about 400 jobs worldwide, including 160 locally. The difference between this new round of layoffs compared to the 2012 ones, however, isn’t to try and slash costs, but part of a “corporate reorganization” that new CEO Gautam Thakar originally discussed when he took over for founding CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy in August.
“The actions today will create a more streamlined and efficient sales model that will enable the business to fund areas of growth – namely technology, data science and mobile,” Thakar said in a statement.
Last week, LivingSocial posted a “$32 million third quarter net loss on $64 million in revenue,” Washington Business Journal reported. Last fall, the company announced it will be shifting away from its trademark daily deal model toward new strategies.
Thakar added that “the improvements in the platform, and our strategy of building a more enduring and personalized marketplace of deals have garnered a positive initial response, but there is still much work to do. This reorganization begins to address the need for the company to further focus on reshaping its mission and redefining the market in an industry that is stagnant, and overly dependent on email.”
In an interview with the Post, Thakar said he decided to layoff employees now, as opposed to in the new year, because it “would be ‘disingenuous’ to keep them on board knowing the company had already decided to cut their positions.”
Full disclosure: this author briefly worked for LivingSocial in 2012.
