Tripadvisor has laid off 900 employees, about 25% of its
workforce, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CEO Steve Kaufer told employees
that in addition to the layoffs, most salaried employees have been asked to
move to a four-day work week and a 20% reduction in salary for three months
starting in June. The 401k matching program in the U.S. has been paused and
Tripadvisor’s offices in San Francisco and downtown Boston have been
permanently closed.
About 600 of the laid-off employees work in the U.S. and Canada.
All of the laid-off workers will receive severance pay and outplacement
support. In the U.S. and Canada, they will also receive health insurance for a
period of time.
A number of Tripadvisor and Viator employees were furloughed,
Kaufer said, but did not offer a firm number.
These measures are in addition to previously announced
cost-saving initiatives, like Kaufer declining a salary for the remainder of
2020 and hundreds of furloughs in Europe.
“This three-phased plan was deliberately and painfully deep
to make sure we will survive a prolonged and protracted downturn,” Kaufer said.
“Or said more simply, we don’t think we’ll need to do another broad global
layoff, even if the recovery takes longer than expected.”