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Live and work anywhere: Airbnb announces new work mode for employees

April 30, 2022
Sezarr

Adding significant flexibility to its work culture, American vacation rental company Airbnb has announced that its employees will now be allowed to work from anywhere. The decision was announced by Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky via an email to his employees around the world. He also took to Twitter and wrote, “Today, we are announcing that Airbnb employees can live and work anywhere.”

In his tweet, Chesky also shared five key features of the new working pattern on Airbnb. He wrote that the first feature is that the employees will have the facility to choose whether they want to work from home or office. “Whatever works best for you,” he said.

The second feature is that workers will be allowed to go anywhere in the country and work from there. Also, there will be no change in the compensation of the employees after their departure. This is likely to help employees who want to be close to their families or who have always dreamed of working from a niche.

In a third facility, starting September this year, Airbnb will enable employees to travel while working. Employees can now work up to 90 days per year in each location in more than 170 countries. However, it said employees would still need a permanent address for payroll and tax purposes. The company is also actively working with local governments to facilitate travel for as many people as possible.

Making sure employees don’t lose consistency, Chesky said team meetings will be held and employees will have the opportunity to meet. Chesky also emphasized that most employees will meet in person every quarter for a week, while others may join more often.

To implement the new methodology, Airbnb will use a ‘multi-year roadmap’ and release two major products each year.

Explaining the idea behind the move, Chesky wrote that “the world has become more resilient” and that Airbnb was only able to recover quickly from the pandemic because of its millions of employees. He further highlighted that the company saw the most productive two-year period in Airbnb history as employees worked remotely.

The Airbnb boss recalled how startups in Silicon Valley adopted the open floor plans and on-site parks that later became popular. Similarly, startups today are embracing remote working and flexibility. He said this system could become the major way through which companies will operate 10 years from now.

Outlining the benefits of the new work design, Chesky wrote that companies would benefit by “limiting their talent pool to an up-and-coming circle around their offices.” “The best people live everywhere,” he said.

He also discussed the fears related to the new design and wrote that the most productive conversations are in person. He said that although platforms like Zoom are great for maintaining connections, it’s not the best way to deepen them.

According to Chesky, the right solution should be to combine the efficiency of Zoom with the meaningful connections that people establish when they meet. “‘Our design strives to combine the best of both worlds,'” he said.

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