May 5th: A company update from Airbnb

[Airbnb]

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the travel industry, and today we shared the difficult news that we’re reducing the size of the Airbnb workforce. This week we’re focused on taking care of our employees, and we’d like to ask for your understanding and patience as we spend time supporting them. Here’s what you can expect in the next week:

• We’ll continue to respond on our social channels, in the Community Center, and through our community support team
• We will reach out to partner with a small group of community leaders from around the world to gather feedback and common questions 
• Brian Chesky, our CEO, will hold a live Host Update on May 13 to answer top questions and address what matters to you most

Brian shared this note with the team today, which is a summary of what’s happening. 

We remain committed to supporting you and your guests and to rebuilding our businesses together. We’ll be in touch again soon.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous I wish I could give that post 10 thumbs up. I'll bet the 25% layoffs wasn't actually 12.5% in this case.

In other news, the VP of Amazon resigned this week, in protest and disgust at Amazon for firing the whistleblowers among their employees who exposed and took them to task for forcing their workers to work in unsafe conditions as far as providing protective gear and responsible pandemic working conditions. It's heartening that there are some top dogs in some of these mega-companies who still operate with a moral compass.

[Anonymous]

@Sarah977  It's an awfully grim topic but you just made a little beer squirt out my nose

[Ann783]

Dear Santa…. When all of this is over…. I want to have a beer with @Anonymous  and @Sarah977 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ann783 

Would love to join you for that beer with @Anonymous  and @Sarah977  :-))

[Sandra126]

But not up my nose.

[Yadira22]

Oh my- to those affected I am heartbroken for you all and sending so much love your way! Believe me, you deserve more than this. 

....

I think the fact that they published this internal email telling people they would be let go is an awful step. Who even does this « oh, yeah you are fired and we are going to publish this on our site, here’s to sympathy. But don’t worry it’s a good thing as it aligns better with our business strategy... ». 

Honestly- every time I think they are going to redeem themselves, they make it worse. Arghh I can’t even fathom the logic here.

Congratulations Airbnb you went from a profitable 70 Billion USD company to 18 Billion USD in less a year. Kudos on that- a hard task to manage but you achieved it! 🥳 *rolls eyes*

[Gordon0]

The thing is, @Yadira22, if they hadn't published it, you'd have seen it leaked within seconds anyway. British Airways recent redundancy news was in the Independent before staff were aware.   

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Gordon0 , @Yadira22 ,

That's it in a nutshell. With confirmation from the affected people we wanted to be the ones to share this news with the Airbnb community with as much transparency as has been agreed with the aforementioned parties. 

It’s a difficult time for all of us. This week I’ll be spending time with my colleagues, and I'd appreciate if you could show us some patience and understanding as we all adjust. Here’s what you can expect in the next few days:

• We’ll continue to respond on our social channels, in the Community Center, and through our community support team
• We will reach out to partner with a small group of community leaders from around the world to gather feedback and common questions—and I’m tracking them myself if you have any of your own, please do share them here.
• On May 13, our CEO will hold a live Host Update to answer top questions and address what matters to you most

Many thanks,

Stephanie

[Yadira22]

Hi @Gordon0 

I agree this news needed to come to light and the business minded side of me can see where it came from and appreciates the severance package outlined as it considers financial hardships, re-employment, mental health and actual health insurance etc. This is not what I am disputing as it was very kind and generous. 

The emotional, human side is disappointed by the manner it was approached- with such a sensitive email you don’t publish it for all to see. You can keep the actual private even from your end only, and you definitely don’t go on to suggest that it would coincide better with your strategy. It is enough to receive one like this but to be constantly reminded of it, is painful. 

For me publishing a short note explaining key points would have been enough and maybe a video attached to it (where no one is obviously reading from a second screen). Compassion goes a long way and people are very proud- discretion with transparency (I.e. sharing only the necessary) is enough. This seems like it was written by HR and obviously I appreciate the need to word it in a way to prevent being legally liable for one thing or another but it lost heart. That was my point. 

[Helen350]

@Gordon0 It was on the telly, BBC News LAST NIGHT, an hour after I read it here!

(Although normally I get my news from @Susan17 !) 😉 

[Jonathan1257]

Never been profitable unless you're a fan of EBITDA and being tech that A means A lot. 10 years and this is probably their plateau. Booking.com does $3b net profit but doesn't have the feely look. We work had that feely look too. Redundancies have been taking place for years but The Valley doesn't do main street.

[Yadira22]

@Jonathan1257 

you are correct, tech companies are rarely truly profitable but according to reports Airbnb became profitable 2 years ago and kept being so, up until recently (running up to becoming public, set for later on in 2020) but truth be told never looked too deeply into their financies.

I usually just follow reports surrounding their brand positioning etc especially within the London region. As I suspected that my city would eventually put more restrictions for running an STR, this could probably be the most appropriate time as to do so and wanted to be prepared beforehand. 

Anyway- stay safe 🙂

[Jonathan1257]

@Yadira22  You too, and hope you  can make it a good year up in London. All the best. Re Airbnb, I thought they would make it to long term profitability but they seem to keep racking up costs. Must better idea than Uber as it did have a niche.

[José70]

"

To those leaving Airbnb ,

I am truly sorry. Please know this is not your fault."... Wow,really? How condescending can one be?

[Gordon0]

My company used a very similar line to those who were being furloughed. I didn't read anything condescending in it, @José70. It simply means they were no less valued than anyone else.