Home sharing giant Airbnb is laying off a quarter of its staff as it deals with its ‘most harrowing crisis.’
Up to 25% of its global 7,500 workforce will go as the company admits it has been ‘hit hard’ by the pandemic.
About 1,900 employees will be let go.
Airbnb said it will cover US employees’ health insurance for the next 12 months and health insurance costs until the end of this year for other workers based overseas.
Laid off workers will get 14 weeks’ salary.
"We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill," CEO Brian Chesky told employees.
The company has raised an extra $2 billion and instituted cost-cutting measures but had to make more difficult choices.
The pandemic will prove particularly costly for the company as it was planning an initial public offering this year.
Chesky said travel booking behavior will be very different when the post-pandemic recovery starts.
"People will want options that are closer to home, safer and more affordable. This means that we will need to reduce our investment in activities that do not directly support the core of our host community," he wrote.
The San Francisco-based platform will pause its development in transport and Airbnb Studios and scale back its investment in hotels and luxury.
