Groupon is laying off some employees on its sales team, the company said Thursday.
"Groupon announced several months ago it would be using technology to increase productivity through automation. This week we reduced the sales team by approximately 80 members as part of that effort. We will always aim to optimize business operations wherever opportunities are identified," a Groupon salesperson said in a statement to CNBC.
The company's stock was up about three percent during afternoon trading Thursday. (Click here for the latest Groupon quote)
In August, Reuters reported Kal Raman, the senior vice president of global sales and operations, said that the company was focused on increasing productivity, not cutting jobs. However, he did acknowledge that some jobs would be cut.
"Some people's jobs are no longer needed. That's part of a company evolving," Raman said, according to Reuters.
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