The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc upon the travel industry. So much havoc in fact that Airbnb is now forced to fire nearly a quarter of their workforce.
According to CNN Business, the COVID-19 pandemic is pulling no punches. The virus has killed the travel industry and is forcing companies like Airbnb to fire nearly a quarter of their workforce. When 2020 began, the rental company had approximately 7,500 employees. Of those employees, 1,900 will be relieved of duty. Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, wrote to his employees saying that the pandemic is one of the biggest struggles of our time. Travel all over the world has stopped, and as such, Airbnb’s business becomes entirely ineffective. Who’s going to stay in an Airbnb when everyone’s locked down to their homes?
Revenue is expected to be lower than 50% of what it was in 2019, despite Airbnb’s desperate efforts to dive into the virtual world. Their attempt had people renting out their services, rather than just their properties. Simple things like taking a Jamaican cooking class, to more interesting and unique things like meditating alongside a monk from Japan.
Chesky has also announced that Airbnb will cover health insurance for all employees in the United States for 12 months. However, in all other countries around the world that maintain some sort of Airbnb workforce, their health insurance will continue until the end of this year.
Unfortunately Airbnb was not the only one hit hard. Companies like Yelp, Eventbrite, Lyft, and even Uber are expected to take massive hits. Most analysts project that layoffs among Uber are likely, and that they’re already happening among the rest.
As customers and hosts alike bombarde Airbnb with concerns and questions, Chesky went on to tell his staff that everything they brought to the company was invaluable and allowed it to become so great. He summed everything up by stating his love for all his employees, and just how sorry he and Airbnb are.