Expedia To Cut 8 Percent Of Workforce

Tom Jowitt,
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After replacing its CEO earlier this month, Expedia confirms it will axe 1,500 jobs, or 8 percent of its workforce

Travel technology service provider Expedia Group has confirmed a restructuring of its operations that will see many staff lose their jobs.

In a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Seattle-based Expedia confirmed “a workforce reduction impacting approximately 1,500 employees,” or roughly 8 percent its workforce.

It comes after Expedia earlier this month announced the appointment of Ariane Gorin as Expedia Group’s CEO on 13 May 2024. Ms. Gorin will succeed Peter Kern, who had served as CEO since 2020, and he will continue to serve as vice chairman and member of the Board of Directors.

Job losses

Expedia is a travel technology company that aggregates air fares and allows users to book flights and hotel stays from its platforms.

Expedia Group operates Expedia.com, but also serves as the parent company of brands such as Vrbo, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Hotwire and Travelocity, among others.

At the end of last year, it had about 17,100 employees in over 50 countries.

“On February 22, 2024, Expedia Group, Inc. (the “Company”) committed to restructuring actions to recalibrate resources in light of the Company’s organisational and technological transformation,” the firm stated in its regulatory filing.

“Subject to compliance with local consultation obligations where applicable, the restructuring actions are expected to result in a workforce reduction impacting approximately 1,500 employees and the communication of such actions to a portion of affected employees was commenced on 26 February 2024,” it added.

Tech sector

Expendia expects the restructuring will result in total pre-tax charges and cash expenditures to be $80 million to $100 million, which are predominately employee severance and compensation benefits costs.

The tech sector has been as a whole of late has been plagued by many layoffs, as tech players seek to reduce their operational costs.

Big name tech firms such as Alphabet, Amazon, Cisco, eBay, Microsoft, Salesforce and TikTok have announced fresh rounds of layoffs, on top of axing thousands of jobs in 2023 and 2022.