AI consequences: Lastminute lays off a third of its staff

Online travel agency Lastminute has just launched a drastic collective redundancy plan (ERE) aimed at eliminating 163 positions at its Madrid operations center, thus reducing its Spanish workforce by 34%.

Officially justified by organizational restructuring and the massive automation of its internal processes through artificial intelligence, this drastic cut is part of a global strategy by the parent company, which plans to reduce 25% of its worldwide payroll.

While management, through its CEO Alessandro Petazzi (pictured), describes this decision as difficult but essential to transforming the group into a fully AI-driven technology company and generating €16 million in annual savings by 2027, union representatives also point to a strategy of offshoring, fearing a transfer of workload to Albania where labor costs are significantly lower.

As a seven-day countdown begins to establish the committee to negotiate the terms of departure, management is striving to reassure the markets by promising support for laid-off employees and sending a message of stability to its customers and business partners in a tourism sector that is nevertheless plunged into social uncertainty.