Airbnb has ended its contracts with contingent workers early and postponed summer internships, reports say. Contractors at Airbnb include property inspectors, domestic specialists, and more.
According to Protocol, contractors would receive no less than two weeks' pay after receiving word from their temp agencies. Airbnb will also postpone hiring undergraduate students until 2021, the report added.
Worst Q&A ever?
According to a worker who was in the meeting, Airbnb's CEO Brian Chesky terminated contingent worker contracts during his weekly Q&A over Zoom on Thursday.
"It was the most tone-deaf, bizarre Q&A format I've ever seen," said the worker, who found out on the call that they were being laid off.
The employee added Chesky didn't thank the contractors, nor saying 'we hope to bring you back.' The CEO just proceeded into the Q&A portion, the worker added.
Managers received an email containing more details from Beth Axelrod, Airbnb's VP of employee experience, according to the worker who spoke with Protocol on the condition of anonymity.
The email signed "Beth" wrote the company had to make the tough decision to reduce the size of Airbnb's contingent workforce significantly.
Axelrod, according to the email obtained by Protocol, also promised more records next week to assist managers in helping their contingent workers through this transition.
She clarified contract employees might be hearing without delay from the third-party businesses that would hire them within weeks. Axelrod added that no person being let go might receive less than weeks' pay after receiving notice.
Airbnb contractors also shared on LinkedIn the news that they had just been let go and seek help to their networks, Protocol's report added.
"Reaching out to my network for some help! Today I learned that I will be laid off from Airbnb due to COVID-19," wrote project manager Emilee Hannum. Hannum also expressed her concern over what comes next.
Airbnb's class of summer interns shared similar news on the same platform. One computer science major at Stanford also reached out to other tech companies in LinkedIn for potential internship opportunities this upcoming summer.
Airbnb has around 5,000 and 10,000 people in its workforce, according to Glassdoor. The New York Times reported it had approximately 6,000 full-time staff employees last year.
Drastic changes?
Airbnb isn't the only tech company to cancel internships amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Yelp canceled its summer internship program in March. Checkr, Funding Circle, Glassdoor, and StubHub canceled their internship programs, too.
These changes came just one day after Airbnb secured a $1 billion loan. Earlier this month, Airbnb raised an additional $1 billion in debt and equity.
Chesky also said at the Q&A that he and his co-founders wouldn't be taking salaries this year. The company's top executives are making 50% pay cuts, reports claim.
"We need to make tough trade-offs and operate with more discipline than we ever have before, so Airbnb can be a much stronger company on the other side of this crisis," Axelrod wrote.
