Airbnb, a leading online hospitality firm, has fired 30 per cent of its hiring team despite the company reporting its first profitable year in 2022, according to the news agency Bloomberg. The company has 6,800 employees total, so the cuts will affect 0.4 per cent of the total. This year, the report said, the company aims to hire more people.
An Airbnb spokesperson told Bloomberg, “We’ve become a leaner and more focused company over the last three years. The company expects to grow its headcount this year.” Due to the pandemic, Airbnb fired 1,900 employees or 25 per cent of its staff.
This report is a shock for everyone as the chief financial officer David Stephenson announced during the company’s quarterly earnings call last month that the company would hire more people. “We’re going to keep growing, but we’re going to expand moderately,” he said, adding that he anticipates staff growth of 2-4 per cent this year compared to an 11 per cent growth in 2022.
For the fourth quarter that concluded on December 31, Airbnb reported an increase in revenue of 24 per cent. In addition, it posted a net income of $319 million for the quarter, up from $55 million in the same period last year. In a letter to shareholders, Airbnb stated that at the beginning of 2023, there is still a high level of demand. The business stated that it is planning to “continue hiring at a judicious pace in 2023.”
In the last few months, several companies have cut their workforce citing adverse business conditions such as a slowdown in demands due to fears of impending slowdown. Among the major firms that have resorted to job cuts are Google, Microsoft, and Meta. On Friday, it was reported that Citigroup was planning to lay off less than 1 per cent of its workforce.
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