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CEO of Booking Holdings Glenn Fogel sits at the helm of a portfolio of travel brands, including Booking.com, KAYAK, OpenTable, Agoda, and Priceline. But three decades ago, he was in a very different position — laid off from a corporate job and unsure about what was next.
After earning an MBA from Wharton and a law degree from Harvard, Fogel worked in investment banking at Kidder, Peabody & Co. He told Business Insider that when the firm merged with Paine Webber, many bankers were cut. What struck him, though, was that some of his colleagues were retained when he wasn’t — a detail he said shaped how he viewed the situation.
“Are you not good? Are you just in the wrong department in investment banking? Or, are you just too expensive?” Fogel said, recounting the questions that lingered in his mind.
Fogel, who has now been CEO at Booking Holdings for eight years, said that losing your job can be “extremely traumatic. ” However, the experience ended up being one of the defining moments of his career, he said, and taught him two critical lessons.
Treat others respectfully
Fogel said the way he was let go felt like a scene out of a Wall Street movie. He was brought into a room with an HR representative, thanked for his work, and presented with a document promising not to speak negatively about the firm in exchange for a severance package. After signing, he was escorted from the building.
“‘You will not go back to your desk to get your clothes, or if you had a coat, it will be down in the lobby,'” Fogel said, remembering what the HR rep told him.
Now, as the CEO, Fogel has faced the difficult task of letting people go a number of times. During the pandemic, for instance, Fogel said the company had to make cuts. In the second quarter of 2020, Booking Holdings reported a 91% decrease in gross travel bookings and an 83% decrease in revenue compared to the prior year. The company announced it would be laying off up to 25% of its workforce.
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Fogel said the company tries to help employees find new roles within the organization when possible.
In all cases, layoffs must be “respectful,” Fogel said. “That will, in a way, help people get through and be able to get to their next position.”
Take a step back
Fogel said when he lost his job, he had to think about whether he wanted to stay in business and who he wanted to become. He said it gave him the chance to pause and reflect before making further career decisions.
“No one should ever say, ‘Gee, I hope I get fired,'” Fogel said. “But if you do get fired, take the learnings from it. Help make sure that you don’t just get angry.”
Fogel didn’t leap into his next position after losing his job. He said he remained unemployed for a couple of years and took the time to write a novel that went unpublished. He said the detour, however, brought an unexpected outcome.
“In the process of it, I ended up getting a blind date with somebody who, once upon a time, was an editor at Random House,” Fogel said. “And while she is no longer an editor at Random House, we did end up getting married.”
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