Remote Year, a Chicago travel startup that helps people work remotely while traveling the world, laid off about 50 employees last week as the coronavirus pandemic impacts the travel industry.
Employees were notified they had lost their jobs on March 19, according to a LinkedIn post authored by Remote Year founder and CEO Greg Caplan. He said the layoffs accounted for the “majority” of Remote Year’s staff, with TechCrunch reporting that it was 50 percent of the startup’s staff and roughly 50 roles on the sales, marketing and product side.
“This was one of the hardest days of my career,” Caplan wrote on LinkedIn. “We had so much empathy and understanding across the board and had to let so many great people go.”
Caplan did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.
Remote Year, founded in 2015, offers 4, 6 and 12-month programs that make working remotely while traveling abroad more accessible. Users travel together in groups and spend a month in a new city around the world, all while having access to SIM cards, WiFi and other resources to successfully work remotely. The program costs between $2,000 and $3,000 a month plus a down payment.
But with travel restrictions being put in place since coronavirus started, people aren’t traveling as much and are not booking trips for the future.
Remote Year's layoffs come just five months after the startup raised $5 million in a round led by Chicago VC firm Lightbank. To date, Remote Year has raised $17 million.
