American online travel company TripAdvisor recently announced that it has decided to lay off 900 employees or 25% of its global workforce due to the impact on travel industry because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a blog post, TripAdvisor CEO and Co-Founder Stephen Kaufer announced that the company would be reducing its workforce in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The layoffs will reduce the company by 900 employees — nearly a quarter of its workforce. Of the cuts, 600 are from TripAdvisor teams in the U.S. and Canada.
The layoffs are an effort to “seek significant cost savings” and steer the company through the crisis to the other side, read the blog.
“… Sometimes, the most valiant of efforts aren’t enough to counter outside circumstances and, as a public company, it is our responsibility to adjust, adapt and evolve to the environment that surrounds us,” Kaufer wrote.
According to the blog post, TripAdvisor will also have most remaining salaried workers take a “temporary pay reduction” and work “a reduced schedule for the summer months.”
Kaufer notes that TripAdvisor’s present cuts are “deliberately and painfully deep” in order to make the company lean enough to survive and avoid a second round of layoffs.
“As CEO, you plan for the best and worst case outcomes that could affect our business,” Kaufer wrote. “Unfortunately, there is no playbook for this moment that we’re in together right now.”
For those employees leaving Tripadvisor, the company is offering transition packages, including severance pay and outplacement support. In the US and Canada, it will also provide health insurance continuation for a period of time.
Asking other employees to help the estranged staff, Kaufer said, “The most meaningful way we can all help each other during these extraordinary times is to support our departing colleagues and help them find new jobs. I’m asking all of our employees to engage your networks, something I will do as well, to help our friends and colleagues transition to their next opportunity.”
Layoffs have become a daily news in the travel industry ecosystem. With governments imposing lockdowns and putting travel restrictions on all kinds of movement, the companies working in the sector are dealing with severe impact.
In India, TravelTriangle and Fareportal have also laid off a significant number of employees even after the union government constantly asking companies to avoid it.
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