It’s not exactly General Motors laying off 60,000, but for most travel writers, this piece of news hits closer to home. The massive guidebook publisher Lonely Planet has just announced that, because of the recent economic down-turn, the company will be sacking 10% of its workforce.
Sure, it’s only 50 people that are being let go, but the news will no doubt have guidebook and other travel writers wondering if they might be next.
Stephen Palmer, the acting CEO of Lonely Planet, said of the move: “I recognize that this is a terribly difficult time, particularly for those whose jobs will be made redundant. I would like to reiterate that I would not have taken this action if there was any way I could have avoided it.”
The cuts will be divided among LP‘s offices in the UK, the US, and Australia, and will mostly affect the production of the publisher’s online content– not the production of its guidebooks.