When a fatal shooting at a party in Orinda, California, made national headlines last fall, the company banned unauthorized parties at rentals and announced plans to confirm that all of its listings were what they advertised. “You lose a piece of the team.”Later, on a Slack channel for former employees, some lamented that Airbnb was gutting its culture, according to messages viewed by The New York Times. The latter, the person wrote, “hurt the most.”The company said it does not tolerate harassment and discrimination and investigates all claims.Last month, some employees in Airbnb’s China division sent a letter to management outlining what they said was inappropriate behavior by Yanxin Shi, engineering director for its China business, according to one of the employees responsible for the letter, which The Times viewed. It will look different, he said, with fewer customers booking international travel, less flocking to crowded cities, more local trips and more long-term stays.Two days after the layoffs, the questions came thick and fast in the employee Question and Answer inside Awedience, Airbnb’s virtual meeting software, according to five people who attended.Some workers asked why there weren’t furloughs or broader pay cuts instead of layoffs. When a fatal shooting at a party in Orinda, California, made national headlines last fall, the company banned unauthorized parties at rentals and announced plans to confirm that all of its listings were what they advertised.In the employee Q-and-A, Chesky reiterated past statements that safety was a priority for the company. “It felt like everything stopped working at the same time.”From the outside, Airbnb’s commitment culture appeared intact. Airbnb opened its Portland office in Old Town in 2014. Along the way to a $31 billion valuation, it built a reputation as the polar opposite of its sharing economy peers such as Uber, which prized ruthless competition, and WeWork, which collapsed under a partying culture and its founder’s self-dealing.Instead, Airbnb stood for earnest idealism. )Enter the virus. “We don’t know why people were cut,” he said. It was meant to be a team-building exercise but instead became a goodbye party.Some laid-off colleagues were devastated, Mr. Baca said, while those who remained expressed dismay over why they had been spared. The backlog took weeks to get through.In April, the company raised $1 billion in emergency funding, followed by another $1 billion in debt.Then came the May 5 layoffs. A spokesman said the company spent only a small amount on landscaping and related services.One area hit by layoffs was Airbnb’s safety team, which handles situations like shootings and assaults at its rentals. Find adventures nearby or in faraway places and access unique homes, experiences, and places around the world. “It was about speed and being directionally right.”Airbnb soon cut $800 million in marketing costs, dropped bonuses and halved executive pay for six months. (A company spokesman disputed the characterization. Mr. Shi did not respond to a request for comment. When In the employee Q. and A., Mr. Chesky reiterated past statements that safety was a priority for the company. No,” said Alfred Lin, an Airbnb board member and investor at Sequoia Capital. Basically, the goodness of humanity.Its network of home rentals quickly spread across the United States and into almost every country.
“It was a very, very difficult thing to face.”Airbnb was built not on a genius technological innovation or a meticulous business school PowerPoint, but on the idea that people might trust one another enough to stay in strangers’ houses. The latter, the person wrote, “hurt the most.”The company said it does not tolerate harassment and discrimination and investigates all claims.Chesky said he remained optimistic.
Mr. Shi did not respond to a request for comment. Its I.P.O. The company landed funding from top venture firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital. With cancellations pouring in and call centers closed because of the virus, Airbnb directed employees across the company, including its recruiters, who had frozen hiring, to assist customers. A spokesman said the company spent only a small amount on landscaping and related services.One area hit by layoffs was Airbnb’s safety team, which handles situations like shootings and assaults at its rentals. Chesky, working from his home office, was glued to his computer most days till around midnight. Part of their performance reviews, for instance, were based on how well they embodied the start-up’s core values, three former employees said. “Now the family goes away, and the deal is sort of changed. “It was a very, very difficult thing to face.”Airbnb was built not on a genius technological innovation or a meticulous business school PowerPoint, but on the idea that people might trust one another enough to stay in strangers’ houses. Founded by Mr. Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia in 2008, the start-up grew quickly as an online platform that helped homeowners rent out rooms to travelers. To blunt the shock, Airbnb’s severance packages included three months of salary and a year of health benefits, which was more generous than many other Mr. Chesky has since described a “second founding,” in which Airbnb will be more focused on its core home rental business. Find the Airbnb Portland address. Founded by Mr. Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia in 2008, the start-up grew quickly as an online platform that helped homeowners rent out rooms to travelers. No,” said Alfred Lin, an Airbnb board member and investor at Sequoia Capital. With cancellations pouring in and call centres closed because of the virus, Airbnb directed employees across the company, including its recruiters, who had frozen hiring, to assist customers. Workers on the regulatory response and payments teams were asked to come back temporarily as well, they said.An Airbnb spokesman said that the groups focused on user safety were the same size as before the layoffs and that the company assessed its support staffing levels daily.