Letter from Brian Chesky to Airbnb employees says the company is laying off 1,900, or ~25% of its workforce, and expects a 2020 revenue decline of 50% YoY

Airbnb is laying off a quarter of its staff. — Airbnb, seen until recently as one of Silicon Valley's most financially secure unicorns, is laying off a quarter of its staff.

Vox 2020-05-06 Theodore Schleifer

Context & Ripple Effects

This is the endgame of a six-week retrenchment Airbnb telegraphed in stages: first the halt to all marketing and most hiring in late March, then the internal valuation cut to $26B disclosed at an all-hands in early April, then the quieter moves — contractor layoffs and postponed internships — that trimmed around the edges before today's core-staff cut.

The 1,900-person layoff lands the same day Uber announces 3,700 job cuts, and a week after Lyft's filing showing 17% of staff laid off plus furloughs and salary cuts — making this the week the pandemic's travel-and-rides collapse turned from cost-trimming into wholesale restructuring across the sector.

First-order effects

Roughly a quarter of Airbnb's workforce is out immediately, with Chesky's letter confirming the company expects 2020 revenue to fall about 50% year over year — the deepest cut among the three platform companies reporting this week.

Second-order effects

Uber's same-day 3,700-person layoff and Lyft's earlier 17% cut show rivals converging on the same playbook; with all three shrinking simultaneously, competition for displaced talent evaporates and each company can cut deeper without ceding ground.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds, the 'financially secure unicorn' framing that defined these companies pre-pandemic gives way to a leaner structure built for a halved-revenue world — with future hiring, like Airbnb's postponed internships, restarting only against recovered demand rather than growth targets.

The trend: The pandemic is forcing consumer travel platforms from growth-mode staffing to survival-mode restructuring, with Airbnb's 25% cut marking the deepest point yet in a wave that includes Uber and Lyft.

Discussion

@bchesky Brian Chesky on x
We have great people leaving Airbnb, and I think other companies will love them as much as I do. If you are hiring, reach out to me at brian.chesky@airbnb.com and our team will connect you. https://news.airbnb.com/...
@johannesreck Johannes Reck on x
My thoughts are with @bchesky and the great people of @Airbnb. You have changed travel for the better and I am certain that you will come back stronger. https://twitter.com/...
@katrina_hrm Katrina Jones on x
🧵Airbnb's response is an important example of what compassionate leadership can look like https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Layoffs at AirBnB, Lyft & Lime with Uber contemplating them while Microsoft earnings were business as usual & Amazon's peaked shows how describing them all as “tech” has been incredibly misleading all this time. They're all very different businesses. https://www.vox.com/...
@jw @jw on x
Imagine if our government had half the empathy of @bchesky https://news.airbnb.com/...
@alex_kirshner Alex Kirshner on x
a) Good on Airbnb for explaining in detail *why* they're doing massive layoffs, saying sorry for it, and paying 14 weeks severance. b) Unionize everything so you don't have to rely on your company just “doing the right thing” in a crisis. Make it required https://news.airbnb.com/…
@vijayasankarv Vijay Vijayasankar on x
1. Great severance terms 2. Excellent communication from the boss - probably the best I have ever read 3. But I doubt this cut is deep enough for the kind of disruption in travel industry https://news.airbnb.com/...
@spencerrascoff Spencer Rascoff on x
This is how you do layoffs. Well done @bchesky @Airbnb: empathetic, transparent, generous, authentic, apologetic, thoughtful, mission-driven, refocusing. Well done. https://news.airbnb.com/... #CV #layoffs #recession2020 #startups
@bryce Bryce Roberts on x
“Travel in this new world will look different. People will want options that are closer to home, safer, and more affordable. But people will also yearn for something that feels like it's been taken away- human connection” https://news.airbnb.com/...
@adblanche Aubrey Blanche on x
Reading @bchesky's letter on @Airbnb's layoffs is giving me some serious feels. Some thoughts on #leadership, hard decisions, and responsibility...and why you let people go face to face. 👇🏼 First, they did a *great* job with this. It's human-first. https://news.airbnb.com/...
@beingpractical @beingpractical on x
When you really care and truly value your team members, it shows! Thanks for showing the way Brian, and much respect for Airbnb team 🙏 https://twitter.com/...
@micah Micah Baldwin on x
Having had to do layoffs in the past, I can just feel the pain that everyone at @airbnb is feeling, including those remaining. Know that this is no one's fault. This could not be fixed by working harder. Impressed with @bchesky's empathy displayed here. https://news.airbnb.com/..…
@hollyclarke Holly Clarke on x
I often get asked why I've stayed at Airbnb for 6+ years. For the people. Airbnb hires the most utterly wonderful, talented and kind people who I'm proud to call friends. This has been a heartbreaking day. Please email Brian, #HireAirbnb & hire my fantastic friends. https://twitt…
@larakiara Lara O'Reilly on x
Every leader who is facing tough decisions about layoffs/furloughs over the coming months should read this note. https://twitter.com/...
@profgalloway Scott Galloway on x
.@Airbnb lets go of 25% of workforce — the best written message of its kind, thoughtful, heartfelt, generous @bchesky https://news.airbnb.com/...
@devinwenig Devin Wenig on x
This sucks. Brian is an outstanding CEO and ABB is a great marketplace business. Will come back stronger than ever with time. https://twitter.com/...
@gerberkawasaki Ross Gerber on x
It's wasn't a good idea anyways. Turn everyone into an innkeeper. #airbnb is now BKing a whole section of society, illegal hotels. https://twitter.com/...
@mildenhall Jonathan Mildenhall on x
Read ⁦@bchesky⁩'s powerful company memo. The true character of a leader shines through during a time of crisis. Brian is the best CEO of his generation. That was fact during the best of times and it continues to be fact during the worst of times. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@villi @villi on x
@semil Maybe a blessing in disguise. They probably did not go far enough. They should go down to 1000 employees... and stay there when things come around. Be stupid profitable.
@jackhojo Jack Horgan-Jones on x
AirBnB confirms 1,900 job losses across the company, 25 per cent of staff (the company employs several hundred in Dublin) https://news.airbnb.com/...
@thrmattbelloni Matthew Belloni on x
Airbnb's TV studio effort is a casualty of today's cuts, says CEO. I'm guessing other big companies who dreamed of a video unit may follow. https://news.airbnb.com/...
@cmarinucci Carla Marinucci on x
-@AirbnB CEO @BChesky letter on 25% company layoffs: “I am truly sorry. Please know this is not your fault. The world will never stop seeking the qualities & talents that you brought to Airbnb..thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing them w us."https://news.airbnb.com…
@jason @jason on x
Cutting 25% of the team you spent a decade building is crushing for a founder — & worse for those laid off This is the ANOTHER terrifying impact of the lose/lose pandemic: even high-paying, white-collar “keyboard jobs” people thought were safe are not. https://twitter.com/...
@nongaap Mike on x
Layoffs are never fun, but this separation package is commendable. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@semil @semil on x
Airbnb is iconic. It's the startup many founders wished they'd started, the one many investors wish they found. Tough day for them. Hard to see past today to the other side. This will impact private valuations even more.
@jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x
Making his thought process public — including the process for reaching the layoff decision and the shift in business focus — was a refreshing move you don't see from other CEOs. What did you guys think of Brian Chesky's announcement? https://news.airbnb.com/...
@jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x
Airbnb layoffs coming, reports @coryweinberg — who has a line into that company like no other. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@coryweinberg Cory Weinberg on x
NEWS: Airbnb planning significant layoffs of full-time employees - Between 1,000-2,000 staffers expected to lose their jobs - Airbnb will put aside projects related to transportation, TV studio, luxury - Will save hundreds of millions of dollars a year https://www.theinformation.…

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