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AIRBNB HAS CONFIRMED that almost 1,900 employees will lose their jobs as the company deals with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
About 25% of the company’s 7,500 employees will be let go.
Several hundred people are employed by the company in Dublin, but it is not yet clear if they are affected by the cuts.
There has been a marked increase in the number of rental properties available in Ireland and elsewhere as properties previously used for short-term letting via Airbnb came back on the market amid recent travel restrictions.
Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky confirmed the job losses in a statement sent to staff members today. He said the company has been “hit hard”, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what was made in 2019.
“We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill,” Chesky said in the statement.
He said the company has raised $2 billion (about €1.8 billion) in capital and “dramatically cut costs” in response to the crisis.
While these actions were necessary, it became clear that we would have to go further when we faced two hard truths: We don’t know exactly when travel will return. When travel does return, it will look different.
Chesky said he believes Airbnb “will fully recover”, but the changes it will undergo are “not temporary or short-lived”.
“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.”
Clarity for employees
Cheesky said employees in the US and Canada will receive “immediate clarity” about their positions, and affected staff members in other countries will be contacted “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,” he added.
The company said employees in the US who are let go will receive 14 weeks of base pay, plus one additional week for every year they worked at Airbnb.
Outside the US, all employees will receive at least 14 weeks of pay, “plus tenure increases consistent with their country-specific practices”.
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Considering the crisis in homelessness and high rents which they were partly responsible for, it is hard to feel bad for them. Housing should be used for housing, not as hotels for profit.
We have plenty of hotels.
@Stephen Cullen: hard to feel sorry for the company… definitely have sympathy for the employees losing jobs
@Stephen Cullen: You do realise that you have been able to stay in people’s homes well before Air BnB came along don’t you? It is just a popular website for it but it’s not a new thing. I personally much prefer to stay in an apartment or house on holidays than a hotel, much more convenient especially with kids.
@Stephen Cullen: pretty sure travel businesses in every area are in same boat..can’t single out one company.but HAP is the reason for high rents .until there is way of housing people that will be a problem.the big problem there is the people that work that don’t get hap and trying to save for mortgage deposit while paying huge rent.but air B and B is handy for holiday s for friends together and bigger families without paying hotel prices.
@Ciaran Whyte:
The well paid software developers on a base salary of about 70k a year? Software developers can find a new job much faster than a company can find a replacement. That’s a privilege that comes without the excuse of “oh I just work here to put food on the table”.
I feel bad for the poorly paid contractors (cleaners, support staff, etc), but the vast majority of them don’t deserve any sympathy.
@Shirley Hollingsworth: hap is not the reason for high rents, greedy landlords and estate agents are.
@Shirley Hollingsworth: hahaha. HAP is not the reason for high rents. Things like Airbnb and people/companies building their “property portfolios” are.
@Stephen Cullen: have u never stayed in a BB.??
@Stephen Cullen: how dare individuals use their property how they feel fit perhaps it’s even a business for them. Let’s blame a website for our homelessness and pass the responsibility. SMH.
@Stephen Cullen: I hope for everyone’s sake you are not all from ireland.i would hate to think people with your views of the world live here..
@flamrock: I’d say he is, based on the recent election results it seems like the country is full of anti business losers who want to swan around doing nothing and get everything for free!
@Joe: it’s a sad reflection on a country I love so much. Very sad.
@Stephen Cullen: Stephen it’s a fair place you’re coming from, but your ire is misdirected. If you’ve ever gone for a weekend on the Shannon or surfing up north then you’re just as much the problem as the landlords and hoteliers by both being willing participants in capitalism.
If a 40 bedroom property on the west cork coast fell into your lap, I apologize if I’m wrong, but I don’t see you turning it into a half way house for the needy.
As with every major problem, it’s cause is a failure of government, institutions and market regulation, not the fault of the 1,800 who’ll be signing on this week.
@Shirley Hollingsworth: what are you talking about?? HAPs being accused of the reason why rents are high? And why would the Sherpas not get the blame also according to your logic. Why is it High Altitude Pakistanis get the blame. This is madness what you are saying, some of these guys don’t work in Nepal anymore due to overcrowding on Everest. Read up a bit on the topic young man.
@Stephen Cullen: the unfortunate thing is that quite a few older people used Airbnb to generate a little extra income, whilst enjoying meeting new people,by renting out their spare rooms. Because they were only short term lets, they could easily stop it whenever they wanted, if they weren’t going to be around, for example.
Shows what a spineless, greedy corporation they are. Just about two months of bad times, after years of enormous profit, and they cut 25% of their staff immediately? Not even considering holding out until it was necessary, just chopping them. Please don’t support Airbnb, don’t use them when you travel etc. They only care about profit for their shareholders and that’s it.
@Alexandra Zarrah: next time u go on holidays support the hotel corporations. Get scammed paying hotel resort fees and other fees . I suppose you would rather stay in a hotel than give your money to a private person. Or maybe u just sit at Home 12 months out of the year and complain about everything.
@flamrock: you know there’s other ways of house sharing, couch surfing or even getting short term rentals dont you? And actual family run B&Bs? Independent hotels & hostels etc??
@Alexandra Zarrah: that’s their legal obligation!
@Alexandra Zarrah: yes I use them all the time.i also shop local, and keep my money where it belongs ,in the pocket of local people. I do Not celebrate when 1900 poor souls loose their means to make a living.
@flamrock: aren’t you a great lad altogether . No one gives a sh** mate so shup will ya and get off your high horse
@Delboy79: “MATE” , we don’t say MATE in this republic. Your colors are showing.
Even the darkest cloud has a silver lining
@SkepticalHippoEyes: yeah 1900 people losing their job. Yippee.
@SkepticalHippoEyes: you are happy people lost their jobs… I do not believe what I’m reading here.
@flamrock: they worked for a company that ruined the housing market for local families in many countries and then when the going got tough, the company cut them without a second thought. On balance, the world is a better place with VultureBnB on its knees.
@SkepticalHippoEyes: the people who rent there houses through Airbnb are just like u and i.they would not or could not rent their rooms to people on a long term basis.. if you are that concerned maybe share you living accommodation with some homeless, or are you really that concerned, or just hate to see people getting ahead.
Welcome to the New Normal
I uses Airbnb tons over the last few years and had become my first go to when booking accommodation on holidays. I hope they recover or a similar company starts up. PS they aren’t responsible for increased rents increase in population is.
@european liberal: Landlords would rather Air Bnb than regular tenants hence the rise in rents and lack of housing
A lot more job losses I expect to be announced over the coming months.a lot of places shedding its workforce and a lot of other places won’t be opening its doors again,hopefully we spring back pretty quick probably from next year.
Dry eyes all round
These start up jobs never get job security
@herp: The company has been around for about 12 years and worth 10′s of billions. Hardly a start up.
@Fandandi: worth billions you say, so don’t need to job cut kool
@herp: There are many huge companies out there cutting jobs, just look at airlines etc. That doesn’t negate my point. Them cutting jobs has nothing to do with me pointing out they are not startup. I’m sure if they cared enough they could have kept the staff but they are a business at the end of the day and aren’t going to throw away money. Again, not a startup, your point is irrelevant.
I am a Airbnb host, organic veg gardens, lawns, bbq areas. I live at my home and choose to share it with people touring Ireland, they are fantastic. So rather than pick on a great company what about travago, booking.com, Google, etc etc. Airbnb always seems to be at blame. Airbnb has morels.
@Paul Somers: And you can’t eat morels.Oh wait, you can.
@Paul Somers: what’s a morel. ? Food ??
@Paul Somers:
AirBnB hosts like you are not the problem, Paul! In fact you typify the operator in holiday marketplace for whom the portal was designed in the first place.
It’s the no-host apartments, houses in cities around the world, excluded from local-worker rental marketplace, and allowed on to AirBnB that has driven up city residential rents.
How have these greedy landlords circumvented the supposed ridged hosting rules to create their apartments into mini hotels generating maxi nightly rates?
How can city workers compete for accommodation against this backdrop?
Hope AirBnB suits have a budget set aside from latest monster funding round for update of Corporate Social Responsibility section of its website
Could probably save some of those jobs if they didn’t give employees free food, free booze, guest celebrity speakers, daytime yoga classes, etc etc.
I hope they die roaring after killing off thousands of small companies all over Europe who were expert in their local area, by bribing owners to go with them. Then they pretended to be interested in the local model. They were so powerful in their local presence (100′s of millions of VC cash) they convinced all those mama papa properties to go with them. Leaving thousands of redundancies in their wake. They competed by renting properties with vc cash, to meet the owners and bypass the local agents. All those little wormy graduates can rot inside a corpse’s shell.
@Mike McGann: Come on Mike, stop beating about the bush and give us your opinion.
14 weeks pay. Not bad considering how many have lost their jobs with no extra pay. Me included
Why do the comments and replies have to be so snarky and nasty. As if things were not bad enough? It’s likely that Airbandb have played a part among other factors.
There is do need for the vitriol being spewed out on this article.
Vultures… No other words for people that rejoice in people losing their jobs to blame the company that employs them… Behind each job loss there is a family and the uncertainty of what the future holds for them… To those blaming Airbnb for your rent increases and house prices rising, think deeply twice… If this what your minds tricks you to believe you have then been all fooled… You all have failed! Shame on you!
@Nicolas Bienvenu Photography: the old jedi mind trick? Air bnb are responsible for rising rents, lack of housing etc
have your say