Tripadvisor to lay off 900 employees due to coronavirus

Tripadvisor will be laying off 900 employees, or one-quarter of its global workforce, the company announced on Tuesday.

The travel company said it had little option but to reduce headcount, with hotel vacancy rates running at 100 percent in many parts of the world, and airline booking at record lows due to the coronavirus pandemic, NBC News reported.

Some remaining staff were asked to take a temporary 20 percent pay cut and work a four-day week.

Co-founder and chief executive Stephen Kaufer said the company would also shut some of its 52 offices worldwide, including Boston and San Francisco, and re-evaluate its need for real estate.

“We have been and will continue to more fully embrace a remote work culture,” Kaufer said in a memo sent to staff on Tuesday, suggesting the success of work-from-home could affect the Tripadvisor’s future real estate footprint.