lastminute.com just cut 25% of its staff. The savings go straight to AI. Not shareholders.

400 people are out at lastminute.com.

Not because the company is failing.

Revenue is fine. The business works.

They're cutting 25% of the workforce to fund AI transformation.

€16M in annual savings starting 2027.
Every dollar redirected to data infrastructure and AI talent.

This is the playbook now.
Shrink the human layer.
Pour the savings into models and agents.
Call it "competitive advantage."

The CEO said AI is "fundamentally changing how travel businesses operate."
What he meant: AI is fundamentally changing how many people you need to operate.

This isn't a tech company burning cash.
It's a profitable European travel platform choosing to fire 400 people to fund automation.

If your company is profitable and still cutting heads for AI, the question isn't whether your job is safe.
It's whether your company views you as a cost to eliminate or an asset to invest in.

Audit your department's AI exposure today.
If your role doesn't directly touch the AI roadmap, you're a line item waiting to be optimized.

SOURCE: https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article141761.html
VERIFIED: Hotel News Resource, The Globe and Mail (TipRanks syndication), lastminute.com press release
SIGNAL: Profitable companies cutting humans for AI budgets is the new normal. The travel sector is following the same script as fintech, SaaS, and enterprise software.