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Citing revenue declines, Airbnb cuts 25% of workforce

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

#241

Post by [deleted] »

blast wrote: post #87
eganist wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm shocked that 2020 revenues will come in only 50% below 2019 This is a fair point, but it also suggests strongly that a significant minority of their business is month to month rentals, possibly in place of leasing. And hey, being frank, I wouldn't mind considering going somewhere else for a few months now that I can work remotely for a while.

> a significant minority of their business is month to month rentals I was wondering about that too. My next-door neighbors vacated their place when the lockdown started, but someone else has been living there. Since they often rent their place on Airbnb for weekends, my assumption has been that this is another Airbnb renter. She's been there for over a month now.

[deleted]

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

#242

Post by pb7 »

saiya-jin wrote: post #232
pb7 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What you describe here as generous is pretty standard in my part of Europe, things like health insurance or unemployment benefits aren't even a concern to worry about. In fact, when fired, my company normally gives 3 months PLUS 1 month per year worked. Now that's what I call generous.

What part is that? And what's the average salary there? It's easy to give 6 months of severance when you're severely underpaying compared to global labor markets.

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

#243

Post by bkanber »

jameshush wrote: post #82
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.

The "high severance upon termination" is smart, I never thought about asking for that. I'll definitely try that in the future!

There's a reason nobody has ever extended him this offer, and I suspect this is it.

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

#244

Post by theaceoface »

julesqs wrote: post #28

for everyone praising the severance package, laid off employees at kickstarter are getting even more severance and full healthcare (not COBRA) because they unionized: https://twitter.com/ksr_united/status/1256382357311012871

That too is a generous severance. But the AirBnB severance is considerably more generous: Longer Severance (14 weeks + n vs 16 weeks) 1 year of Cobra vs 4 months Equity vs None

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

#245

Post by vzidex »

blueblisters wrote: post #128
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…

Is there any early data on current AirBnB price trends in key markets? I was looking at some listings in Amsterdam and the prices seem really cheap for a weekend at the end of this month. The inventory seems fairly limited, however. Perhaps hosts are already pulling their properties off the short-term market.

Hosts definitely are pulling properties already - based off stories I've heard/read, many AirBNB hosts were/are overleveraged on their properties and have had to sell or convert to long-term now that their income has dried up, to avoid defaulting.

Further anecdotally, I've been closely following the rental market in my city because I'm looking for a long-term place for August. There's been a noticeable drop in prices, and _huge_ quantities of listings in buildings that were notorious for being "AirBNB hotels". Furthermore, lots of listings are obviously ex-AirBNB units - tells include being only available furnished, only available for ~4 month rentals, descriptions that include "Perfect for your next stay!" or words to that effect, and my favourite: hotel-style "No smoking" cards caught in the listing photos.

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

#247

Post by uptown »

speby wrote: post #230
ping_pong wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would too, but the thing holding me back is if the shit hits the fan, and I need to do something like buy a freezer to store extra food, I can't conveniently do that in an Airbnb. And if I somehow get sick, I'm at the mercy of the doctors and hospitals in this foreign land. I'd rather be in my own home with the doctors and hospital system that I'm familiar with. I think more than 50% of people feel this way, which…

If shit hits the fan, there won't be freezers to be bought... they'll get panic purchased instantaneously and, if you did manage to find one for sale, expect it to cost multiple times what you otherwise might have paid.

FYI - They're already gone.

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

#248

Post by dillonmckay »

justaguyhere wrote: post #197
pedrosorio wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cutting salaries in half guarantees they lose all the top performers, and probably more than half, instead of the 5 they pick. I don't believe that is the goal.

Yes, during normal times. But these are not normal times - like, who is hiring now? If I were a top performer, I'd take a salary cut if it means saving my colleague's job. I get what you are saying though. They are a business and I guess they're doing what is best for their business. The severance package is generous (relatively speaking), so there's at least that. Edit : I guess I didn't word this properly. I was sa…

During what ‘normal times’ are salary cuts okay?

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

#249

Post by supernova87a »

If Airbnb is willing to pay 14 weeks (3.25 months) of severance, they must believe this is going to go on significantly longer than that. Or they're using this as an opportunity to cut underperformers at the same time.

Because if they believed things would start to recover by fall, wouldn't you just pay the people as normal and make a judgement call around then? You're spending the payroll money either way -- 14 weeks of severance and people stop working immediately, or 14 weeks of payroll and people are still working.

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