Marriott CEO: Job Cuts at Combined Starwood-Marriott Will Start at the Top

Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson appeared on Fox Business News’ Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo to talk jobs, growth, and his company’s impending merger with Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

Sorenson pushed the combined companies’ strength in terms of brands and room numbers. A combined Marriott-Starwood will boast 1.1 million rooms with 350,000 in the pipeline. “We will be very strong in the luxury and upper upscale space,” Sorenson said.

For those interested in which of the combined companies’ 30 brands will survive, Sorenson name-dropped Marriott’s Bulgari and Ritz-Carlton and Starwood’s St. Regis, Luxury Collection, and W Hotels.

Bartiromo asked Sorenson about cost savings after the merger, which Sorenson has pegged at $200 million. While many of the savings will happen on human side, these won’t likely happen at properties. “When you get to hotels there won’t be significant job impact, maybe zero job impact,” Sorenson said.

That’s not good news for workers at Starwood corporate. “The closer you get to the executive suite in their headquarters the more you see an overlap,” he said. “I think we’ll find the biggest cost savings disproportionately at the higher end of the overhead structure.”