Groupon, an e-commerce marketplace, is to lay off its employees and end operations in Taiwan, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
Department of Labor Employment Security head Liu Chia-hung (劉家鴻) said the agency received notification from Groupon Taiwan on Friday that it would lay off 100 workers on Nov. 21, and its remaining 15 workers and executives on Dec. 31.
Groupon has not breached regulations as it notified the department and other agencies of the plan at least 60 days before the planned layoffs, so it will not be fined, Liu said.
The official said it would be left up to Groupon to coordinate the layoffs with its workers, and the department will not intervene in the process unless it receives complaints from those involved.
Groupon did not respond to questions about its plans.
Customer service employees for the company said they had not heard anything about the situation, adding that Groupon products and services can still be used as normal.
They said there would not be any problems with refunds and appealed to customers not to worry.
Founded in Chicago in 2008, Groupon entered Taiwan in 2010 and has seen some success.
However, several similar Web sites have sprung up in Taiwan since 2011.
The market had been largely in the hands of four major players — Groupon, Gomaji, 17Life and Crazymike.tw — according to the Institute for Information Industry.
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