As per CNN, Airbnb informed staff on Thursday that they can work remotely indefinitely and relocate anywhere in the country.
According to the vacation rental company, doing so will have no negative impact on compensation, which means that salary will not be reduced if an employee chooses to relocate to a place with cheaper living costs.
What Is the Reason Behind This New Move?
CEO and cofounder Brian Chesky explained the company's new policies and expectations in a long email to employees on Thursday.
Chesky highlighted that the best people reside everywhere, not just in one place. Hence, Airbnb wants to employ and keep the best individuals in the world, and limiting its talent pool to a commuting radius surrounding its offices would put the company at a disadvantage.
However, some people may be concerned about whether workers are doing their duties if they are not visible. Chesky stated that he trusts his employees and that flexibility is only possible when people on your team are trusted.
While Zoom is excellent for maintaining relationships, he admitted that it isn't the ideal way to deepen them. Additionally, certain collaborative and creative work is better done in the same room.
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What Does Chesky's Proposal to These Issues
Chesky enumerated the company's key features which aims to address some of the issues regarding the new announcement:
- Airbnb employees can work from home or the office
- Airbnb employees can move anywhere in the country they work in but their compensation won't change
- Airbnb employees have the flexibility to travel and work around the world
- Airbnb employees will meet up regularly for gatherings
- Airbnb employees will continue to work in a highly coordinated way
As per the news story of TechCrunch, perhaps Airbnb will be the test case for this type of completely remote workplace, and the rest of the industry will be watching and waiting for the company to trip over some major new tax burden or productivity issue. However, despite international legal limits, the policy's simplicity and flexibility may exceed any additional problems it causes.
How Was Airbnb's Business Amidst the Pandemic?
According to CNN, the change is likely a no-brainer for Airbnb, as Chesky has recently become a living, breathing marketing campaign for remote work — a trend his company, of course, stands to benefit from following the pandemic's initial, disastrous impact on its business.
Airbnb had its strongest fourth quarter ever, bringing in $1.5 billion in revenue and $55 million in net income, which is a record for the company.
Protocol said that last quarter, Airbnb continued to benefit from "the new normal," with many employees taking long-term travels as remote work allowed more individuals to work from diverse locations.
Over the last two years, the average trip length has climbed by 15%, with rentals lasting a week or more accounting for nearly half of all bookings in the past quarter. Airbnb's fastest-growing travel category by length remained 28 nights or longer, accounting for 22% of gross nights, up from 16% in the fourth quarter of 2019. In the past year, about 175,000 Airbnb guests remained for three months or longer.
