Airbnb announced that it will cut around 35% of its corporate workforce, or around 190 positions at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

Part of Airbnb’s Wider Workforce Reduction

These cuts are part of a previously announced workforce reduction as Airbnb has struggled with a loss in business due to the coronavirus. All in all, the company plans to cut around 1,900 jobs — about 25% of the company.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that the company needed to “dramatically cut costs” in response to a global travel slowdown.

Airbnb employs 500 staff members at its European headquarters in Dublin, and 190 will be laid off. That’s a 38% workforce reduction, much higher than the company-wide reduction of 25%.

The company said in its internal communications that most of the reductions will come from customer service staff members. This is likely due to a significant reduction in customer traffic and a corresponding reduction in customer service issues.

Airbnb Starting to Rebound

The company’s announced cuts are continuing to go forward even as short term rental bookings have started to improve over the past few weeks. The market has started to rebound as a number of countries have started to re-open, but a continued rebound is not certain.

Short term rental bookings were up significantly in May 2020 when compared to April 2020, but bookings were still down significantly when compared to the same period in 2019. This rebound in 2020 bookings is a good sign, but not enough to stem off cost-cutting measures that the company was forced to implement.



photo credit: airbnb

Want More Industry Updates?

Get our newsletter for the latest news, insights & analysis  

Invalid email address
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Categories: Stays