An SEC filing stated that costs associated with the company’s restructuring actions are expected to be between $80m and $100m.
Travel booking platform Expedia is set to cut its workforce by nearly 9pc, which will impact about 1,500 employees.
In an SEC filing, the company said it is “committed to restructuring actions to recalibrate resources” in light of its organisational and technological transformation.
At the end of 2023, the company employed around 17,100 workers. Its planned restructuring is expected to incur pre-tax charges and cash expenditures of between $80m and $100m – most of which will be employee severance and compensation benefits costs.
In a statement reported by Bloomberg, a company spokesperson said the job cuts will allow Expedia to invest in core strategic areas for growth.
“Given the recent completion of many significant technical milestones in Expedia Group’s transformation, the business continues to evaluate the appropriate allocation of resources to ensure the most important work continues to be prioritised,” they added. SiliconRepublic.com has reached out to Expedia for comment.
The online travel company is one of many that were massively hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Expedia’s own executives sacrificed salaries to weather the travel shutdown in 2020, while Airbnb reported a net loss of almost $697m in the first nine months of that year.
But while many industries are recovering from the pandemic, the travel industry took more time to stabilise and even this year, many companies in the sector are trying to manage expectations. Earlier this month, Expedia saw shares sink, with an 18pc drop on 9 February – the biggest single-day drop in four years.
On an earnings call on 8 February, Expedia Group’s vice-chair and CEO, Peter Maxwell Kern warned that growth rates were expected to decelerate across the world. “Air ticket prices have declined particularly in the US, and we are seeing some continued pressure on car rental rates,” he added.
The Expedia layoffs add to an increasing list of tech companies making job cuts at the beginning of this year. Last week, TikTok announced restructuring plans, while Snapchat’s parent company plans to cut 10pc of its workforce.
Meanwhile, SAP announced restructuring plans in January 2024 that will affect 8,000 jobs worldwide and PayPal plans to cut 9pc of its workforce.
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