Airbnb is cutting around 25% of its global workforce
Airbnb is cutting around 25% of its global workforce
Airbnb says it’s letting go a quarter of its global workforce and refocusing its business priorities. The short-term property rental company expects its revenues will be cut by at least half this year, given the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marketplace’s Nova Safo has followed the numbers on this story.
“Nearly 1,900 people will lose their job,” he told “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio. “We don’t know how that breaks down by country. The company operates in two dozen countries.”
Affected employees in the U.S. and Canada were informed of the cuts Tuesday. Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said in an all-staff memo that Airbnb must refocus for a post-pandemic travel industry that will be different than what it was before the coronavirus.
Airbnb had been investing in things like bringing hotels onto its platform, more high-end properties. It was also making efforts in transportation, looking at flights, potentially. Some of those initiatives are now on pause or being scaled back.
This is a wrenching reversal of fortune for a company that’s been valued at tens of billions of dollars, and was planning sell its stock to the public this year. It’s also been a nightmare for people depending on money from visitors paying to stay at their places.
In terms of how this affects the travel industry more widely, Makarand Mody, professor of hospitality marketing at the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration, says this could be an opportunity for Airbnb’s competitors.
“Across the travel industry, that might in a sense roll back the years and allow some of the other players in the travel industry to really double down in some of the things that they did well,” Mody said.
He thinks there may be more hotel consolidations, because boutiques that were relying on Airbnb will now get gobbled up by big chains.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
