Expedia Group, the Seattle-based travel technology giant, is set to slash approximately 1,500 positions from its workforce this year, outgoing CEO Peter Kern announced in a memo to employees on Monday. As reported by The Seattle Times, these cuts will primarily affect the product and technology divisions and equate to a 9% reduction of Expedia's global workforce, which currently stands at 17,100.
The move comes as Expedia is preparing to welcome a new chief executive and follows an operational review aimed to optimize resource allocation.“The business continues to evaluate the appropriate allocation of resources to ensure the most important work continues to be prioritized,” an Expedia Group spokesperson conveyed in an email. Although the exact timeline has not been confirmed, displaced employees are expected to be notified within the next week. However, the company declined to confirm whether all 1,500 affected employees will be informed of the changes immediately, or if the layoffs will specifically target Seattle-based staff.
According to a different take from GeekWire, which obtained a copy of the CEO's memo, the layoffs have been justified by significant technical strides made over the past year and the reduction of "tech debt." The CEO's message outlined: “With so much technical achievement over the last 12 months and so much tech debt behind us, we now are obliged to take a close look at roles, skills, teams, and locations to ensure that our resources are focused in the right areas.”
This layoff announcement is not the first sign of Expedia slimming down its operation. The firm also announced back in September that it would trim its headcount as it aimed to restructure due to advancements in AI technology. This sparked speculation, as noted by The Columbian, over whether the current layoffs are a continuation of that earlier effort. Meanwhile, the company assures that cutting down on positions will enable them to continue to invest in core strategic areas.
Expedia, which owns a variety of travel-related brands, including Expedia.com, Vrbo, Hotels.com, and Trivago, has a widespread international footprint with offices across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The breadth of these cutbacks and their distribution among global offices remain to be fully disclosed. As of now, Expedia remains tight-lipped on the details of the impact these layoffs will have on its various international offices.
