Airbnb informed its 6,000 staff on Thursday that they’d have the choice to completely work remotely, becoming a member of a rising variety of corporations which have ditched return-to-office plans, together with Zillow and PwC. Airbnb additionally informed its U.S. staff that they might transfer to wherever within the nation with out a discount to their compensation.
Airbnb beforehand aimed to return staff to the workplace in September 2022. However unsurprisingly, its chief government, Brian Chesky, has been a proponent of office fashions that give folks extra flexibility to journey, noting that about one in 5 visitors final yr reported utilizing Airbnb to work remotely.
Airbnb’s remote-work coverage is the most recent in its efforts to encourage folks to make use of Airbnb listings as pseudo-offices. About 10 p.c of American staff are nonetheless distant, down from one-third in Could 2020 on the top of pandemic lockdowns. Final summer season, the corporate launched Reside Anyplace on Airbnb, a yearlong program that gave 12 folks the possibility to journey the globe whereas working from Airbnb places.
Taking one other tack, some tech corporations, like Google and Microsoft, have tried in latest weeks to create workplace environments which can be as alluring as trip spots, providing video games like corn gap, together with fried hen and wine tastings for workers going again to their commutes.