Buffalo-based tech firm laying off 70 workers, most of them at company's downtown HQ

A Buffalo-based website designer and service provider says it will lay off about 70 employees, including 50 who work at the company's downtown headquarters.

Synacor Inc. CEO Himesh Bhise said in a statement released Tuesday that about 20 percent of the company's workforce will be laid off in an effort to make the firm "leaner and more agile."

After the job cuts, the company will have about 210 workers in Buffalo.

The layoffs come as the provider of Internet content contends with a steady decline in its sales over the past year. Sales hit a record high of $122 million two years ago, but fell by 8 percent in 2013 and 13 percent through the first half of this year.

Synacor also has offices in New York City, Boston, Toronto and Ottawa.