Online shopping travel company Expedia announced Monday that it would cut 3,000 jobs in order to “simplify” its business. The cuts will include 500 people at Expedia’s Seattle headquarters.

“Today, Expedia Group announced our intent to simplify how we do business,” Josh deBerge, a company spokesman said in a statement. “This includes stopping certain projects and activities, reducing use of vendors and contractors and eliminating approximately 12% of our direct workforce.”

Barry Diller, Expedia’s chairman, has previously called Expedia a “bloated” organization and has said that the company lost “clarity and discipline” in recent years.

“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,” Diller said in a statement Monday.

The affected employees will reportedly receive severance pay, along with extended health-care packages.

Expedia let go of its CEO Mark Okerstrom and CFO Alan Pickerill in December due to disagreements between the company’s board and senior management. Diller has managed the daily operations of the company since the ouster.

The job cuts were not due to coronavirus fears but the outbreak is expected to hurt the company financially. Expedia has said that the virus would hurt its earnings by $30 million to $40 million.

Founded in 1996, Expedia Group's competitors include Booking.com, Airbnb and TripAdvisor.

RELATED STORIES
Coronavirus