Oh, I quite agree- I have always had empathy for the CS staff- it isn’t their fault that Airbnb trains them poorly, pays them poorly, and doesn’t keep them up to date on policy changes. No matter how much their responses have irritated me, I have always stayed polite with them, and always thank them for their time. I can’t imagine having a job where hosts and guests are yelling at you all day about things that are not of your making.
But even though most things are not their fault, there appears to be some leeway in how CS reps respond. I have gotten knowledgable, helpful reps who it’s obvious are really trying to help, and others who appear to just be going through the motions and whose main objective seems to be getting you to just go away.
What I was trying to say is that CS reps, regardless of the training they receive, should at least know how to deal in a polite and on-point way with customers, which some of them don’t seem to be able to manage.
But it is pretty unconscionable for Airbnb to fire 25% of its staff in the midst of a pandemic. It would be interesting to know how many of their millionaire and billionaire high muckedy-mucks took a cut in pay.
It was reported on the CC by a host who has been brilliantly and tirelessly researching and documenting Airbnb’s behind-the-scenes manipulations for years. She’s planning on writing a book, I believe. She mentioned at one point that she has some information sources within Airbnb, and also corresponds and collates information she receives from a large number of hosts she is in private communication with, worldwide.
Interestingly, she has just been banned from the CC.
Gosh, yeah. I feel sorry for everyone in customer service. I have friends that do it and it is pretty much the nightmare you might imagine. Dealing with complaints all day.
To their credit, Airbnb did give a really decent severance package at least. I hope they give the 14 weeks pay in a lump sum so that those who were let go can also get unemployment while the extra $600 is still available. And their health insurance is being paid for the rest of the year.
Now you know the real reason Airbnb raised $1B in private equity just 30 days ago.
For those who are interested, this a copy of the memo sent to staff.
JF
This is my seventh time talking to you from my house. Each time we’ve talked, I’ve shared good news and bad news, but today I have to share some very sad news.
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. For a company like us whose mission is centered around belonging, this is incredibly difficult to confront, and it will be even harder for those who have to leave Airbnb. 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 capital and dramatically cut costs that touched nearly every corner of Airbnb.
While these actions were necessary, it became clear that we would have to go further when we faced two hard truths:
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.
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.
A more focused business
Travel in this new world will look different, and we need to evolve Airbnb accordingly. 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:
I have done my best to stay true to these principles.
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.
Severance
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.
Equity
We are dropping the one-year cliff on equity for everyone we’ve hired in the past year so that everyone departing, regardless of how long they have been here, is a shareholder. Additionally, everyone leaving is eligible for the May 25 vesting date.
Healthcare
In the midst of a global health crisis of unknown duration, we want to limit the burden of healthcare costs. In the US, we will cover 12 months of health insurance through COBRA. In all other countries, we will cover health insurance costs through the end of 2020. This is because we’re either legally unable to continue coverage, or our current plans will not allow for an extension. We will also provide four months of mental health support through KonTerra.
Job support
Our goal is to connect our teammates leaving Airbnb with new job opportunities. Here are five ways we can help:
Here is what will happen next
I want to provide clarity to all of you as soon as possible. We have employees in 24 countries, and the time it will take to provide clarity will vary based on local laws and practices. Some countries require notifications about employment to be received in a very specific way. While our process may differ by country, we have tried to be thoughtful in planning for every employee.
In the US and Canada, I can provide immediate clarity. Within the next few hours, those of you leaving Airbnb will receive a calendar invite to a departure meeting with a senior leader in your department. It was important to us that wherever we legally could, people were informed in a personal, 1:1 conversation. The final working day for departing employees based in the US and Canada will be Monday, May 11. We felt Monday would give people time to begin taking next steps and say goodbye — we understand and respect how important this is.
Some employees who are staying will have a new role, and will receive a meeting invite with the subject “New Role” to learn more about it. For those of you in the US and Canada who are staying on the Airbnb team, you will not receive a calendar invite.
At 6pm pacific time, I will host a world@ meeting for our Asia-Pacific teams. At 12am pacific time, I will host a world@ meeting for our Europe and Middle East teams. Following each of these meetings, we’ll proceed with next steps in each country based on local practices.
I’ve asked all Airbnb leaders to wait to bring their teams together until the end of this week out of respect to our teammates being impacted. I want to give everyone the next few days to process this, and I’ll host a CEO Q&A again this Thursday at 4pm pacific time.
Some final words
As I have learned these past eight weeks, a crisis brings you clarity about what is truly important. Though we have been through a whirlwind, some things are more clear to me than ever before.
First, I am thankful for everyone here at Airbnb. Throughout this harrowing experience, I have been inspired by all of you. Even in the worst of circumstances, I’ve seen the very best of us. The world needs human connection now more than ever, and I know that Airbnb will rise to the occasion. I believe this because I believe in you.
Second, I have a deep feeling of love for all of you. Our mission is not merely about travel. When we started Airbnb, our original tagline was, “Travel like a human.” The human part was always more important than the travel part. What we are about is belonging, and at the center of belonging is love.
To those of you staying,
One of the most important ways we can honor those who are leaving is for them to know that their contributions mattered, and that they will always be part of Airbnb’s story. I am confident their work will live on, just like this mission will live on.
To those leaving Airbnb,
I am truly sorry. Please know this is not your fault. The world will never stop seeking the qualities and talents that you brought to Airbnb…that helped make Airbnb. I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing them with us.
Brian
It could well be that the 7,500 figure mentioned by Chesky is the total of those directly employed by Airbnb, and the difference of 5,200 is made up of temps/contractors/agency staff. Cancel a contract with one call centre company and you could shed 1,000 jobs, which would not then be counted as “job losses”, simply the termination of a commercial agreement with company XYZ.
Alternatively, they could have been slightly over optimistic with employee numbers pre IPO, for whatever reason.
JF
Thanks for posting this. Although I gagged at all the “love”, two things did strike me positively.
For an American Corporation, private or not, this is an extraordinarily generous redundancy package, particularly the health insurance. I salute them/him.
Tucked in is a realisation of overreach and the loss of the original DNA that made Airbnb successful in the beginning. Perhaps he has spent a few weeks reading small hosts here.
More redundancies happening in London too sadly. I do worry about how this will affect customer services going forward.
Unlike many people, I have always had a good response from CS, whether in London, Dublin, Lisbon or Barcelona.
At least in the UK, where they are bound to employ over 100 people, they have to go out to statutory consultation for 45 days. I’m not sure if the over 200/90 day consultation period still exists, but hopefully so. And employees are not bound to their employer for health insurance.
There are some who think that the economic contraction will be Great Depression level so the folks that are “made redundant” at the beginning may fare better off in terms of what a company is willing or able to offer.
It’s unusual for a company to report contingent workers in their employee count, although much more common when they’re saying about how many jobs they’re going to create while asking for tax breaks. 
This is Airbnb remember…
JF