LivingSocial Inc., the second- biggest provider of online daily deals, is cutting about 400 staff across most of its divisions to reduce costs, according to a person with knowledge of the matter and media reports.
Eric Eichmann, president of the international business unit, is also leaving, said the person, who asked not to be named as the information is not public.
Most of the affected staff were to be informed Wednesday, the person said. The company has more than 4,500 employees, according to its website.
LivingSocial is using job cuts to help it cope with the slump in demand for online coupons that has resulted in losses and forced part owner Amazon.com Inc. to write down the value of its 29 percent stake. Groupon Inc., the leader in online coupons, is suffering too.
Amazon reported a third-quarter charge of $169 million related to its stake in LivingSocial. The online retailer had invested $175 million in the coupon service in 2010.
Andrew Weinstein, a spokesman for Washington-based LivingSocial, declined to comment yesterday on the cuts. Eichmann did not respond to a request for comment.
The job cuts were previously reported by the Washington Business Journal.
