Portal cargo.one makes cuts as it realigns to economic conditions

Online booking portal cargo.one has announced the loss of 16 members of staff as it adopts a more cautious strategy in light of a weakening macroeconomic environment.

Moritz Claussen, founder and co-chief executive of cargo.one, said that the company remained incredibly grateful to the members of staff that were leaving and promised practical help and support.

This included comprehensive severance pay, healthcare support, networking assistance, career support and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to bolster mental and emotional well-being.

In total, the company employed 130 people prior to the redundancies.

Claussen said that “making a reduction to the team is the hardest decision for any founder”. 

“For myself and my co-founders, we believe that accountability, transparency, fairness and empathy is our true north, and we have done our best to uphold these values throughout,” he said.

Explaining the need to make the headcount reduction, Claussen told Air Cargo News: “The macroeconomic environment is toughening, interest rates continue to increase, inflation remains high, and the technology funding environment is becoming increasingly restricted, with no signs of any short-term recovery. 

“In light of the tougher market and funding conditions, and keeping in mind our clear goal to remain self-reliant and independent for many years to come, we have decided to support our continued growth with a more cautious financial strategy.”

Claussen added that the company expects to continue to grow after a busy 2022 in which it “partnered with more airlines than ever before” and expanded services into 64 countries.

“This development is driven by two factors: firstly, the recognition by current and future airline partners that cargo.one and digital distribution are a clear and sustainable value driver; and secondly, by the sheer talent and effectiveness of our team,” he said.

“Our partner airlines are seeing strong results from cargo.one, and so we are very confident they will invest further into digital sales.

“Data from [data analytics firm] BCG shows the outlook for the digital share of bookings is extremely strong, and is increasingly important for airlines to sell capacity efficiently.

“Our depth and diversity of supply, vast SMB customer segment, and our emphasis on digital customer experience are a few examples of where cargo.one is well positioned to lead its competitors.

“In the coming months, we will launch a whole host of new airline partnerships and a variety of new products aimed at accelerating digital success for forwarders at all stages in their digitalisation.”