Hopper announced 250 job cuts this week that the online travel services company attributed to “organizational changes” as it evolves into a full-scale travel platform.
In an interview with Canada’s Globe and Mail, CEO Fred Lalonde said the cuts — equal to 30% of the company’s full-time staff — were part of the Montreal-based company’s effort to reach profitability.
“We were running a lot of initiatives that were not revenue-generating, we’ve always done that,” Lalonde said. “But the world has changed, money is no longer free. And we need to move to profitability. There is no magical secret to why we’re doing this, it’s to cut our burn rate and arrive to break even as fast as possible.”
In a statement confirming the job losses, the company pointed to efforts to grow beyond its roots as a mobile travel app known for predicting the best time to book flights.
“This year, we prioritized the company’s evolution into a full-scale travel platform, powering both the Hopper app and our B2B partner channels,” the statement said. “In recent months, the growth of our B2B business has accelerated rapidly. In parallel, we are laser-focused on continuing to build our direct global hotel supply. We needed to make organizational changes to properly support these two critical business objectives. Unfortunately, we made the difficult decision to eliminate a number of roles as part of this reorganization. We are deeply grateful to the colleagues we had to part with for their hard work and dedication.”
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