Sojern,
a digital marketing platform for hotels, attractions, destinations and airlines, laid off about 20% of its employees last week, although the exact number is unclear.
The company said the layoffs were "primarily associated with our
legacy managed service offerings. As customers gravitate towards newer Sojern
Platform solutions, we are focusing our investment against those areas."
A spokesperson also provided this statement to PhocusWire:
- Effective December 6, 2023, Sojern has made the difficult decision
to reduce its workforce in response to evolving market dynamics. This affects a
number of positions across various departments and levels within the company.
This decision was not made lightly. However the company believes
this is the right path forward to support the long-term health of the
business. While the company remains profitable, its executives and the board of
directors agree that the best course of action to ensure long-term profitable
growth is to reduce expenses for the upcoming year.
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"We are eternally grateful to our hard-working team for their
dedication to the business and contributions toward the success and growth of
Sojern," said Mark Rabe, CEO at Sojern.
"The
decision to eliminate positions was not where we wanted to end up and it is in
no way a reflection of the contributions made by those impacted. Instead, we
see this as a strategic move that will help us recalibrate our global
operations and resources, and better align with the current business landscape
as we see it. People are at the heart of everything we do at Sojern and our
priority right now is to take care of our team, both those departing and those
who remain. We understand the challenges this situation presents and can assure
you that we are fully committed to supporting our team through this difficult
transition.”
Founded
in 2007, Sojern provides clients with data on travel intent, historical
bookings, guest loyalty, benchmarking, supply and inventory and more. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised more than $170 million.
In July Sojern acquired hotel guest experience and brand reputation platform VenueLytics for an undisclosed amount.
*This
story has been updated to include that the company has confirmed the layoffs affected 20% of its staff.