Accor CEO Says Corporate Reorg Has Nothing To Do With Covid Impact Despite Massive Layoffs
Photo Credit: Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin says a recent corporate overhaul has less to do with the pandemic and more to do with the final stage of a five-year business plan. Wikimedia / Elisa.rolle
Skift Take
The global pandemic still impacted Accor's recent corporate restructuring, whether the company sees it that way or not.
A major corporate restructuring at Accor sparked permanent layoffs of 25 percent of corporate staff, according to the company’s CEO Sebastien Bazin speaking Tuesday during Skift Global Forum.
But the overhaul has nothing to do with coronavirus, he asserted during an interview with Skift Editor-at-Large Raini Hamdi.
“It has nothing to do with Covid. It has nothing to do with cost efficiency,” Bazin said. “The only way to move forward was to decide to cut down one layer of decision-making, which was a tough decision.”
Accor, owner of brands like Fairmont and Raffles, is in the midst of a corporate overhaul that draws some power away from central headquarters in Paris and places more decision-making in the hands of eight geographic hubs around the world.
Even if the corporate restructuring has nothing to do with the pandemic, Accor has still taken part in cost-savings plans during the uncertain travel environment. A $235 million savings plan included eliminating 1,000 jobs and potential sale of Accor’s $430 million Paris headquarters.
Accor CEO Sebastien BazinThe 25 percent layoff figure touted Tuesday is higher than those seen recently at Hilton and Marriott, which laid off roughly 22 percent and 17 percent of their corporate staff, resp
