Airbnb to lay off 1,900 workers amid COVID-19 pandemic

WASHINGTON: Home-sharing platform Airbnb has announced to lay-off one-fourth of its workforce as the coronavirus pandemic had crushed the travel industry.

some 1,900 workers will be slashed by the San Francisco-based company. “The cuts are needed to survive until people start travelling again,” Airbnb co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky said.

“We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill,” Chesky said. Airbnb explained that it will try to soften the blow with benefits including providing 12 months of health insurance to laid-off workers.

According to Chesky, the job cuts will be spread about the company’s global operations, with the goal of turning a more focused business strategy.

“Teams across all of Airbnb will be impacted,” Chesky said by adding, “Many teams will be reduced in size based on how well they map to where Airbnb is headed.”

Airbnb added that it will cut investments in transportation, hotels, or other endeavors that do not directly support hosts whose homes are listed on the platform.

Airbnb in April announced it was taking a billion dollars in new investment to endure and, it hopes, thrive in a travel world transformed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Airbnb planned to focus particularly on long-term stays, from students needing housing to remote workers, building on a rising demand the platform has seen as people self-isolate during the pandemic.

Read more: Disney to stop paying 100,000 workers amid COVID-19 pandemic

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