COVID-19: Airbnb To Lay Off 25% Of Its Workforce Globally

Airbnb has revealed that it will sack about 1,900 of its workforce, equivalent to 25% of the company’s employees as coronavirus pandemic plunged economies.

Airbnb has followed suits of companies around the world that have endured to downsize their workforce due to the inevitable economic crisis that looms as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Brandnewsday gathered that the CEO of the travelling agency, Brian Chesky in a statement disclosed that 1,900 of the company’s staff will be laid off at the end of the week, as a result of the global lockdowns which have since crumbled businesses.

In his words, Chesky said that during the release of the statement made it the seventh time he will be addressing his employees from home. Added that each time they talked, he had been sharing the good news and bad news, but on that day he will be sharing some very sad news.

According to to him, when you’ve asked me about layoffs, I’ve said that nothing is off the table. Today, I must confirm that we are reducing the size of the Airbnb workforce.

Speaking further, he revealed that the company’s mission is centred around belonging, this is incredibly difficult to confront, and it will be even harder for those who have to leave Airbnb.

Chesky memo reads: ”I am going to share as many details as I can on how I arrived at this decision, what we are doing for those leaving, and what will happen next.

”Let me start with how we arrived at this decision. We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill. Airbnb’s business has been hit hard, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what we earned in 2019. In response, we raised $2 billion in the capital and dramatically cut costs that touched nearly every corner of Airbnb.

Read: Access Bank Speaks On Laying Off 75% Staff And Closing 300 Branches

”While these actions were necessary, it became clear that we would have to go further when we faced two hard truths:

1. We don’t know exactly when travel will return.
2. When travel does return, it will look different.

”While we know Airbnb’s business will fully recover, the changes it will undergo are not temporary or short-lived. Because of this, we need to make more fundamental changes to Airbnb by reducing the size of our workforce around a more focused business strategy.

Airbnb Sacks: Airbnb Total Workforce and the numbers to be laid-off:

”Out of our 7,500 Airbnb employees, nearly 1,900 teammates will have to leave Airbnb, comprising around 25% of our company. Since we cannot afford to do everything that we used to, these cuts had to be mapped to a more focused business.”

Speaking further he noted that the business of travel in this new world will look different, and therefore they need to evolve Airbnb accordingly.

He further said: ”People will want options that are closer to home, safer, and more affordable. But people will also yearn for something that feels like it’s been taken away from them — human connection. When we started Airbnb, it was about belonging and connection. This crisis has sharpened our focus to get back to our roots, back to the basics, back to what is truly special about Airbnb — everyday people who host their homes and offer experiences.

”This means that we will need to reduce our investment in activities that do not directly support the core of our host community. We are pausing our efforts in Transportation and Airbnb Studios, and we have to scale back our investments in Hotels and Lux.

”These decisions are not a reflection of the work from people on these teams, and it does not mean everyone on these teams will be leaving us. Additionally, teams across all of Airbnb will be impacted. Many teams will be reduced in size based on how well they map to where Airbnb is headed.

”How we approached reductions: It was important that we had a clear set of principles, guided by our core values, for how we would approach reductions in our workforce. These were our guiding principles:

• Map all reductions to our future business strategy and the capabilities we will need.
• Do as much as we can for those who are impacted.
• Be unwavering in our commitment to diversity.
• Optimize for 1:1 communication for those impacted.
• Wait to communicate any decisions until all details are landed — transparency of only partial information can make matters worse.
• I have done my best to stay true to these principles.

Airbnb Sacks: Airbnb Hints On Employees To Retains:

”Process for making reductions: Our process started with creating a more focused business strategy built on a sustainable cost model. We assessed how each team mapped to our new strategy, and we determined the size and shape of each team going forward. We then did a comprehensive review of every team member and made decisions based on critical skills, and how well those skills matched our future business needs.

”The result is that we will have to part with teammates that we love and value. We have great people leaving Airbnb, and other companies will be lucky to have them.

”To take care of those that are leaving, we have looked across severance, equity, healthcare, and job support and done our best to treat everyone in a compassionate and thoughtful way.”

Speaking on gratuity, Chesky said: ”employees in the US will receive 14 weeks of base pay, plus one additional week for every year at Airbnb. Tenure will be rounded to the nearest year. For example, if someone has been at Airbnb for 3 years and 7 months, they will get an additional 4 weeks of salary, or 18 weeks of total pay. Outside the US, all employees will receive at least 14 weeks of pay, plus tenure increases consistent with their country-specific practices.