Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce • Hacker News Board

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#111

Post by pb7 » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

KoftaBob wrote: post #60

speedgoose wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~~Yes, because it's pretty shitty for Europe.~~ I didn't understand well, sorry.

"In many countries, the severance pay is a lump sum that increases with the employee’s tenure in the company and their wage level. In the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, employees with service of up to one year are entitled to severance pay (in most cases one month’s pay), while in Luxembourg employees have to have a minimum of five years within the organisati…

It's not, people just love shitting on America. 14 weeks + 1 additional for each year served at US salaries + unemployment + paid health insurance for 12 months is extremely generous compared to the peanuts that Europe pays engineers.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#112

Post by schkkd » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

ithkuil wrote: post #57

schkkd wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why when a yet another aspiring startup wants to hire me, I ask for a high sign on bonus as an insurance, monthly vesting cycle, at least 200k in base pay and high severance upon termination. Never been given that, but I don't regret: looking back, all those "just 1 year till IPO" companies are underwater.

Anybody accepted those terms?

Nope, no one. And I could negotiate terms with directors, VPs and CEOs (of small firms) over lunches: meaning that they deemed it valuable enough to spend a few hours of their time on me, make a sales pitch and listen. Some admitted that while my terms were reasonable, it would just too expensive for their company to hire me.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#113

Post by ping_pong » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

cbhl wrote: post #94

ping_pong wrote: post #53

I'm shocked that 2020 revenues will come in only 50% below 2019. I don't think anyone will be travelling for the bulk of this year, especially with the looming threat of potentially getting sick in a foreign country or away from your home. It will take 5+ years for them to get back the same level of inventory/hosts/customers as they had in 2019. Many hosts will foreclose on their rented properties during 2020 or conv…

I was under the impression they were pivoting rather hard into events, to diversify their income streams?

What sort of events would be taking place at this point? I have a friend who works in conferences, and he said his business is 0 now.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#114

Post by duxup » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

disiplus wrote: post #90

KoftaBob wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In many countries, the severance pay is a lump sum that increases with the employee’s tenure in the company and their wage level. In the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, employees with service of up to one year are entitled to severance pay (in most cases one month’s pay), while in Luxembourg employees have to have a minimum of five years within the organisati…

yup, it's better then what you would get in most of the europe. does US have an unemployment plan. how long and how much do you get ?

Yeah so severance is what you get from the company directly.

That counts as your usual pay. So during that time you don't get 'unemployment'. After the severance runs out then you collect unemployment, how much that is varies state to state.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#115

Post by MattGaiser » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

vkou wrote: post #22

keiferski wrote: post #10

Separated employees will receive 14 weeks of pay, and one more week for each year served at the company (rounding partial years up). The firm is also dropping its one-year equity cliff so that employees who are laid off with under 12 months of tenure can buy their vested options; Airbnb will also provide 12 months of health insurance through COBRA in the United States, and health care coverage through 2020 in the res…

Back in the day, severance packages for white collar workers were close to one month per year served. My father received that from Kodak (Not once, but twice... He had the rare privilege of being laid off (From the same team, no less) in 2009, and then again in 2016. The severance package did not change much between each of his stints of employment.) With that schedule, anyone who worked at AirBnB for four years or l…

4 years at Airbnb would be quite a long time.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#116

Post by bluntfang » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

itsmefaz wrote: post #98

schkkd wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why when a yet another aspiring startup wants to hire me, I ask for a high sign on bonus as an insurance, monthly vesting cycle, at least 200k in base pay and high severance upon termination. Never been given that, but I don't regret: looking back, all those "just 1 year till IPO" companies are underwater.

I think I'm missing something here.. but how can one negotiate severance pay for termination. I was under the assumption that companies offered severance pay as a means to save face.. and this is not part of the offer negotiation.

anything is for sale and on the table, you just have to ask/demand it. Doesn't mean you're going to get it though.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#117

Post by elliekelly » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:56 PM UTC

capocannoniere wrote: post #58

lacker wrote: post #12

There are going to be a lot of tough decisions for people who have to decide whether to buy their Airbnb options or lose them. I bet a lot of people at Airbnb are wishing they went public before all this.

While Airbnb is clearly going through a rough patch right now, there is a clear bull-case argument for why Airbnb will emerge stronger than it's ever been after this: - Airbnb has sufficient cash in the bank to survive the crisis. - A significant % of hotels and budget chains will not survive the crisis --> decreased competitor supply - People will be looking for budget options when traveling --> increased demand for…

Between the recession and a general fear of unnecessary travel during coronavirus I doubt there will be increased demand for Airbnb.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#118

Post by jlbnjmn » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:56 PM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #48

My initial reaction is "wow, nice severance package!" My secondary reaction is they must think things are going to be very bad for a very long time for this kind of payout to make sense financially.

Good point. If they're wanting to part ways with 25% of the workforce now, covering 3 months of full salary and 12 months of expensive healthcare, they must be expecting fundamental market shifts.

Also, the debt they took on may have been partly to cover these lavish severance packages while also extending the runway.

And yes, this is extremely lavish. Paying severance that appears roughly equal to the median annual income in the USA.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#119

Post by _2d30 » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:56 PM UTC

hef19898 wrote: post #56

_2d30 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s an example of a country where this isn’t generous?

Germany, health care isn't even a question, three months notice is the norm. Plus some additional severance payments. Don't take the number for granted, but I think IIRC it is something like one month per year. Not sure anymore, so. EDIT: Read days instead of weeks regarding AirBnB severance pay. That changes a lot, and it makes it a more than generous package by anyone's standards.

> Germany, health care isn't even a question

How does this mean? As in, it's provided by the state and therefore not a part of a severance package or as in German employers don't provide any? I'm not sure how to take this. If it's that the state provides it, then arguably AirBnb is being even more generous or possibly it shouldn't be included in the comparison. It's about what AirBnb is providing when discussing their generosity or lack thereof.

> IIRC it is something like one month per year.

So possibly way more generous or possibly way less generous depending. Under AirBnb's scheme, it's more generous so long as you've been employed less than 5yrs.

Not sure I'm seeing how German standards are so much more generous. Possibly that's fair under the healthcare standpoint but even then AirBnb is providing for a whole year so not really clear at all that that wouldn't cover an individual until their next role.

Re: Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

#120

Post by KoftaBob » Tue, May 05, 2020, 7:56 PM UTC

rightbyte wrote: post #102

KoftaBob wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In many countries, the severance pay is a lump sum that increases with the employee’s tenure in the company and their wage level. In the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, employees with service of up to one year are entitled to severance pay (in most cases one month’s pay), while in Luxembourg employees have to have a minimum of five years within the organisati…

Do the employees have to work during these 3 months? It is not clear from the article. If not, it is quite "competitive".

Their last day is May 11th, so no they're not working. Otherwise it wouldn't be considered severance pay, that's basically just giving 3 months notice.