Tui to slash up to 8,000 jobs

European travel giant Tui plans to slash up to 8,000 jobs as the coronavirus crisis forces it to cut costs.

That number includes positions that “will either not be recruited or reduced” under a plan to trim overhead costs by 30 percent, the Germany-based conglomerate said Wednesday.

The company with more than 70,000 employees around the world called the pandemic “the greatest crisis the tourism industry and Tui has ever faced.”

“Tui should emerge from the crisis stronger. But it will be a different Tui and it will find a different market environment than before the pandemic,” CEO Fritz Joussen said in a statement. “In order to return to the successful development of the past years after the crisis, we must now implement the realignment quickly.”

Tui, which owns airlines, cruise ships, hotels and travel agencies, reported a 10.1 percent drop in revenues for the first three months of 2020 as the virus destroyed demand for travel.

Business was strong before the crisis hit, with revenues growing 6 percent from October through February before virus-related travel restrictions forced the company to “largely discontinue” its business, according to a press release.

While the company said it’s getting ready for travel activities to resume in Germany and Europe, it recently got a loan of 1.8 billion euros (about $1.9 billion) to shore it up until business can get back to normal.