WASHINGTON - Online travel giant Expedia will cut 3,000 jobs worldwide after what the company called a "disappointing" performance in 2019, US media reported Monday.
The firm, which operates its flagship travel site as well as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Cheaptickets, Egencia and CarRentals.com, said the decision was made after determining it had been "pursuing growth in an unhealthy and undisciplined way," according to an email sent to staff.
"I am confident that simplifying our business and clarifying our focus by making these difficult changes, our teams can get back to working on the projects and priorities that make the most sense for us, our customers and our partners," said Expedia chairman Barry Diller in a statement to The Seattle Times.
During a Feb. 13 earnings call, Diller called the organization "bloated" and said many employees didn't know what "they were supposed to do during the day."
Diller also said he was aiming for savings of $300-500 million in 2020.
Over the course of 2019, sales increased by 8 percent, net income by 4 percent and earnings per share by 6 percent.
By the end of December, the company had 25,400 employees around the globe. The job cuts will eliminate about 12 percent of the workforce.
But company leadership revealed that in the last quarter, net profit had gone down 4 percent and earnings per share had gone down 1 percent.
In early December, Expedia announced the immediate departures of chief executive Mark Okserstrom and chief financial officer Alan Pickerill after what the company termed "disappointing" third-quarter results.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO, California - Uber hired Expedia boss Dara Khosrowshahi as its new chief executive late Tuesday, in the hopes he can steer the ride-sharing service away from the string of controversies it has faced in the past year.
Khosrowshahi will be at Uber's headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday for an "all-hands" gathering to meet workers at the embattled company.
"We are delighted to announce that Uber's Board has voted unanimously to appoint Dara Khosrowshahi to be our new CEO," Uber executives said in an email sent to employees late Tuesday.
Khosrowshahi is credited with turning Expedia into a global travel services behemoth, winning admiration from employees along the way.
Khosrowshahi replaces Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was pressured to resign as chief of the leading smartphone-summoned ride service.
Kalanick was the driving force behind Uber, taking a spur-of-moment idea and turning it into the world's most valuable venture-funded tech startup.
But his brash personality and freewheeling management style, which some argue set a problematic tone at the company, made him a liability as well as an asset to the global ridesharing giant.
He stepped down as chief executive in June.
Khosrowshahi was 9 years old when he and his family immigrated to the United States on the eve of the Iranian Revolution, according to Uber.
Khosrowshahi is known as an experienced top executive, willing to speak his mind and to advocate for women getting equal pay and leadership opportunities.
"We're really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara's experience, talent and vision," Uber said in the message to employees.
ROUGH ROAD
Khosrowshahi will face challenges including conflicts with regulators and taxi operators, a cut-throat company culture, and board members feuding with investors over Kalanick.
Kalanick frequently recounts how the idea behind Uber was born, when he and a colleague were attending a technology conference in Paris in 2008 and failed to find a taxi on a cold night.
Uber now operates in hundreds of cities and more than 80 countries.
But the hard-charging style that helped Uber succeed also made Kalanick a target for critics.
He has borne responsibility for allegations of nasty workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.
Dents to Uber's image include a visit by executives to a South Korean escort-karaoke bar, an attempt to dig up dirt on journalists covering the company, and the mishandling of medical records from a woman raped in India after hailing an Uber ride.
The US Justice Department is investigating whether Uber broke American laws against bribing foreign officials to promote business interests, the company confirmed.
The US government earlier this year was reported to have launched an investigation into Uber for the use of secret software that enabled the company to operate in areas where it was banned or restricted.
FINANCES HUMMING
But despite the company's dented image, its financial engine still appears to be purring.
Earnings figures confirmed by AFP showed that adjusted net revenue was $1.75 billion in the second quarter, more than doubling from about $800 million in the same period in 2016.
Gross bookings at the service doubled as the number of trips climbed 150 percent from a year earlier.
The company's adjusted net loss fell nearly 14 percent to $645 million from the same quarter last year, Uber confirmed.
Meanwhile, Uber drivers have earned $50 million in tips since a gratuity option was added to the ride-sharing application in June.
Uber has also been investing in autonomous driving technology, and provoked a lawsuit from the former Google car unit now called Waymo that accused Uber of stealing trade secrets.
BOARDROOM TUMULT
Some mutual funds have reportedly marked down their stakes in Uber in a sign that months of scandal were taking a toll on the private company's value of some $68 billion.
Kalanick is asking for the dismissal of an investor lawsuit against him, calling it part of a personal attack aimed at sidelining him.
The Benchmark lawsuit filed in a Delaware court accused Kalanick of fraud, breach of contract and of plotting to manipulate the board of directors to allow him to return as CEO following his resignation in June.
But in a legal filing, Kalanick claimed that Benchmark "began secretly planning an effort to oust him" and "executed its plan at the most shameful of times" following the death of his mother in a May accident.
The first court hearing in the case is slated for Wednesday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
