Booking Holdings announced layoffs of 'more than 200 and fewer than 1,000' employees at Booking.com, primarily affecting its Amsterdam workforce of 7,000. This came despite reporting a 37% increase in net profit to $5.9 billion in 2024. The company claimed layoffs were 'not a cost-cutting measure' but 'an effort to operate more efficiently.' Previous layoffs: 2,700 in 2022, 4,000 in 2020.
company
Booking Holdings
Parent company of Booking.com (Amsterdam), Priceline, Kayak, OpenTable, and Agoda. World's largest online travel company by market cap. Primary operations at Booking.com in Netherlands.
Track Record
compelled $450.0M
Spain's competition authority (CNMC) fined Booking.com €413 million for abusing its 70-90% market dominance over 5 years. Violations included: enforcing price parity clauses preventing hotels from offering lower prices elsewhere, unilaterally reducing room prices, opaque commission programs (Preferred, Genius), and manipulating search rankings to restrict competition from other OTAs.
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Under criminal investigation in Netherlands for profiting from Israeli settlement listings
May 1, 2024incidental
Dutch Public Prosecutor is investigating Booking.com following a criminal complaint by human rights NGOs (SOMO, ELSC, Rights Forum, Al-Haq) alleging the company profits from war crimes by listing vacation rentals in illegal Israeli settlements. Evidence showed listings in East Jerusalem tripled from 13 to 39 in one year. Complaint filed under anti-money laundering legislation. Booking denies allegations.