Travel Companies Laid Off Thousands in 2023

23.12.2023 - 13:17 / skift.com / Justin Dawes / Rob Greyber

Travel companies laid off more than 6,600 employees in 2023. The total comes from more than 20 travel companies that disclosed layoffs for various reasons.

Vacasa, a vacation-rental property manager, is the travel company that reported the largest single layoff in terms of total numbers: 1,300 employees. Five other property-management companies made similar moves.

Below is a roundup of travel layoffs in order by the month they were reported.

Some companies disclosed the number of employees cut. For those that shared the percentage only, Skift made an estimate based on the company’s total number of employees. In a couple of cases, details came from inside sources only. 

Vacasa, a vacation-rental property manager, in January eliminated 1,300 positions, about 17% of its workforce. The company had laid off 280 employees the previous October. Vacasa completed the move in an effort to reduce costs and continue focus on becoming profitable, according to an email to employees from CEO Rob Greyber.

Skift reported that firings at Google Flights, which had 100 or more employees on its engineering team alone, reached 10%-12% in January. It was part of Google’s largest-ever layoff of about 12,000 employees, or around 6% of its full-time workforce.

Inspirato, which offers a luxury vacation home and hotel subscription service, made two layoffs in 2023. The January cut was 12% of its staff, roughly 100 people. In July, the company laid off around 50 staffers, or some 6% of its workforce.

Glisser, an event tech platform, said in early 2023 that it would be laying off its staff of 25 because it went out of business and the technology was acquired, but the team was not offered positions at the new company.

American Airlines in February began sharing internally that it would be cutting some sales staff, including three senior leaders, Skift reported.  

Property manager Sonder in March laid off 14 percent of its corporate workforce, about 100 workers. The move was expected to lead to an annual savings of about $10 million.

Airbnb in March laid off 30% of its recruiting staff, about 27 jobs, although it planned to increase its overall workforce. 

Lyft in April said it would “significantly reduce the size of the team as part of a restructuring.” The number of people impacted was at least 1,200, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Heygo, the startup virtual experiences platform, laid off its 20 employees and closed the business in April.

Sabre in May said it would be cutting 15 percent of its workforce, equating to about 1,100 jobs. The company said the cuts would lead to a savings of $200 million annually. 

Evolve, a vacation rental property manager, in May said it would be laying off 164 employees, about 14% of its