TUI Group to cut 8,000 jobs amid virus outbreak

The European travel company TUI (TUIGn.DE) announced on Wednesday that it would continue its global operations in July and slash its workforce by roughly 8,000 jobs to reduce 30% of its costs amid the virus outbreak.

In an effort to halt the further spread of the coronavirus, travel restrictions have been put in place, thus rendering demand for travel almost obsolete. However, TUI Group said that it implemented new safety measures, and that it was ready to restart holiday travel.

TUI reported a sharply widened net loss of 813 Million Euros ($882 Million) for the quarter to March 31 compared with its loss of 301 Million Euros in the year-earlier period. TUI’s shares fell by 2.9% at 0932 GMT and continue to decline by 70% in the past three months.

“We are targeting to permanently reduce our overhead cost base by 30% across the entire group. This will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally that will either not be recruited or reduced,” the company stated.