Today, Tripadvisor (TRIP 0.11%) announced it's laying off approximately 25% of its workers, according to a public blog post from founder and CEO Steve Kaufer. It's an effort to survive the COVID-19 pandemic that has decimated the travel industry. An additional swath of Tripadvisor employees are being furloughed, and still more are taking a pay cut.
Furthermore, Tripadvisor is getting rid of some offices -- one move of several to reduce capital expenditures.
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Tough times for Tripadvisor
Kaufer is calling today's move "phase three" of the steps taken to continue operations despite the coronavirus. Phase one included slashing non-essential spending and cutting Kaufer's salary. Phase two involved furloughing European employees to take advantage of government subsidies. Now, phase three is a hard blow to Tripadvisor's employees.
The layoffs will affect around 900 Tripadvisor employees. An undisclosed number of employees will be furloughed, with the intention of recalling those employees within the year. Finally, remaining salaried employees are moving to a four-day work week, and taking a corresponding 20% cut to their pay.
In addition to these moves, it seems there will be lasting changes to Tripadvisor's work environment. Specifically, the company is closing offices in San Francisco and Boston. Many of those still employed from those offices will be working remotely from now on. To that, Kaufer states, "[w]e have been and will continue to more fully embrace a remote work culture."
