Booking.com Says It Ran Into Snag Hiring People Who Live in Iran

Amsterdam-based Booking.com said it had to rescind several job offers made to Iranians living in Iran because of complexities in the international hiring and relocation process of would-be employees living in that country.

A Booking Holdings spokesperson responded to a Skift inquiry on the subject after Maede Rajabi posted on LinkedIn that "Booking.com rescinded my signed contract one day before my flight to Amsterdam and 5 days before my start date. It happened on September 9, 2022. Same scenario happened to other people from my country, Iran."

Rajabi introduced the post as "a short story about racism in Booking.com."

The Booking.com spokesperson said the online booking company "employs many Iranian nationals."

But hiring Iranians currently living in Iran apparently ran afoul of certain regulations or possibly sanctions against Iran, although the company didn't cite specifics.

The spokesperson said "mobility vendors [were] unable to effect the necessary part of the hiring and relocation process."

Booking.com stated that the issue had nothing to do with discrimination, and it is looking into ways to assist Iranians who were subject to the rescinded job offers.