LivingSocial lays off 400 employees

Daily-deal operator LivingSocial today laid off about 400 employees, which is nearly 9% of its 4,500-person global workforce.

All but a few dozen of the eliminated positions were based in the United States, with LivingSocial’s sales and customer service teams bearing the brunt of the cuts.

As part of the move, the company is relocating its customer service operations to Tucson, AZ, where it recently opened a call center, from its Washington, D.C., headquarters, a LivingSocial spokesman says.

“After two years of hyper-growth from 450 to more than 4,500 employees, these moves will align our cost structure against our 2013 plans and will help us set the company on a path for long-term growth and profitability,” says the spokesman.

LivingSocial will use the cost savings that come from the layoffs to invest in marketing, mobile services and hiring additional technology staff, he says.

The layoffs come just weeks after LivingSocial’s chief daily-deal rival Groupon Inc. laid off 80 members of its sales team.