The pandemic and its accompanying restrictions on travel, business, and work, has caused company’s to rethink business models going forward. In other words, businesses like their new focus on being lean and mean, even while they get back to normal sales levels. In a Wall Street Journal article, Tripadvisor CFO, Ernst Teunissen says that the company is going to hold the line on adding back costs. Trip Advisor reduced expenditures by a staggering 32 percent in 2020 as governments worldwide banned and restricted travel.

“We’re going to very much resist just adding back what we had before just because we can,” Mr. Teunissen said. “You could argue that a company should have the discipline to always do that, but a pandemic really sharpens your focus.”

Tripadvisor has reduced the company headcount by nearly 62 percent, from 4,194 pre-pandemic to 2.596 currently. Simultaneously, like most other companies, Tripadvisor employees have been predominantly working remotely and for the most part, they plan to continue with that strategy.

Mr. Teunissen said he is looking closely at Tripadvisor’s real estate footprint to determine how much office space the company will need after the pandemic, as it expects to adopt a hybrid model of remote and office work.

Tripadvisor has roughly 30 offices spanning about 600,000 square feet and its lease obligations totaled $168 million as of Dec. 31. The company is considering subletting more of its space and, in some cases, moving to smaller locations, Mr. Teunissen said.