Jayride CMO takes voluntary redundancy as COVID-19 crisis bites

Jayride’s CMO said his decision to take a voluntary redundancy as part of dramatic staff cuts at the online travel services marketplace was necessary if the business is to make it through the current COVID-19 crisis.

Jayride chief marketing officer, Daniel McMillan, caught up with CMO to share his devastation at the decisions the group is being forced to take in order to weather the crisis, which has decimated the travel industry. Jayride is an online marketplace providing travellers with the ability to compare airport shuttles and private transfer services and now operates across 100 countries.

McMillan, who has been with the group for five years, is one of more than 100 staff impacted. He confirmed the business has stood down 33 employees and made 77 part-time in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

“It's no secret the travel industry has been decimated by Covid-19. It's a tough time for everyone and Jayride is no exception,” McMillan said. “Jayride has been a large part of my life for the last five years, we built the marketing function from the ground up and scaled to over 100 countries. To go from record growth to record declines after all that hard work is nothing short of devastating for all involved. It was simply out of our control.

“It’s never easy to go through a downsize, but these changes essentially bought Jayride a much needed 12-month runway, giving it a chance to scale again once the industry rights itself.”

Many employees, including McMillan, are shareholders in the company. “I had to put the team first and my role second,” he continued.

“Taking a voluntary redundancy was a hard decision but I feel it was a necessary sacrifice to help Jayride and its people get through this difficult period. While it’s an unexpected situation I find myself in, I’m choosing to see this as an opportunity to start fresh, focus on family, and explore new opportunities I didn’t think were there only weeks ago.”

Jayride is one of many companies in the travel and tourism industry having to make difficult staffing decisions as COVID-19 bites. In the last couple of weeks, travel services giant, Flight Centre, has either stood down or let go 6000 staff and shut more than 50 per cent of its leisure shops globally in a bid to cope, while rival player, Helloworld, has actioned 275 redundancies and stood down 1300 staff for at least 10 weeks.

Airlines such as Qantas and Virgin have also stood down tens of thousands of employees as air travel is curtailed.

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