14 Pros and Cons of Working for Airbnb

Unless you have been living under a rock or without the internet over the past several years, you have probably heard of the company Airbnb.

If you have not heard of this company, let me fill you in.

Airbnb is a company in the hospitality industry that provides accommodation for people on vacation or other travel-related reasons.

Many people work for Airbnb, and they have things to say about the company.

Here are some of the pros and cons that past and present employees have about working for Airbnb.

Table of Contents

Pros of Working for Airbnb
Cons of Working for Airbnb
14 Pros and Cons of Working for Airbnb – Summary Table
Should You Work for Airbnb?

Pros of Working for Airbnb

Here are some of the pros that many employees have of working for Airbnb.

1. Good pay

Airbnb is said to have good pay for what you do and how much you work.

One of the deciding factors for staying with a company is the salary.

If you can afford the cost of living, and you like where you work, you are more likely to stay with the company.

If someone likes the company but is not able to pay their bills, then it is a good idea to move on to a different company.

Fortunately, for many employees, Airbnb seems to pay pretty well.

2. Work/life balance

Most employees say that Airbnb has a decent work/life balance, especially since the pandemic.

You can arrange your schedule to fit your needs, which means that you can tend to your other commitments in your life.

This works well for employees who have families, medical appointments, and other commitments and responsibilities.

While the majority of employees have said that the work/life balance is pretty good, there are a few who say that the balance is lacking.

This indicates that it might be a location issue rather than a company-wide issue.

3. Remote work

Since the pandemic, there have been more companies turning to remote work options.

This is a big pro in many ways.

Employees can work in the comfort of their own homes and create their own schedules.

They also have more time to get their work done without needing to factor in the extra time for commuting from home to the office and back again.

This leaves more time for employees to get other things done that are not work-related.

According to Airbnb employees, Airbnb is one of those companies that has shifted to remote work options.

4. Flexibility

As mentioned above, Airbnb has remote options for its employees.

This creates more flexibility in their schedules that can be used for other commitments or even self-care.

The ability to create your own schedule and choose your work hours allows a lot of extra freedom to get other things done.

You can schedule around a doctor’s appointment, or you can take time off for a family vacation.

If you have young children, you can stay at home with them, saving money on commuting and childcare costs.

The possibilities are endless.

5. Good work environment and culture

According to employee reviews on Glassdoor, Airbnb has a good work environment and culture.

Many employees love the people they work with and consider the work environment to be relatively stress-free.

One of the two biggest deciding factors for a job is the work environment.

If the pay is good, but the work environment is not, then most people will move somewhere they feel more valued.

Fortunately, Airbnb is one of those companies that shows its culture and has a positive work environment.

6. Honors company values

Most companies have some sort of company values.

Whether they honor those values or not is a different story.

According to many employee reviews, Airbnb is one of those companies that stays true to its values.

Airbnb values diversity, adventure, and inclusivity, and many employees that work there say that they hold true to those values.

When a company is built on values and honor, there is a sense of community where customers and employees can come together with a sense of trust in each other.

This adds a lot of credibility to the company.

7. Good benefits

Airbnb offers a variety of benefits to its employees, including:

Paid time off
Travel stipend
Parental and family leave
Financial rewards and retirement planning
Health care plans

As many employees have said on Glassdoor, Airbnb has really good benefits.

You have unlimited paid time off that you can use for whatever you need.

You can get good healthcare plans to take care of your healthcare needs.

They even offer what is called a travel stipend.

Employees get a travel stipend of $2000 annually that is paid quarterly.

With the travel stipend, employees can travel to other Airbnb locations in the world.

Cons of Working for Airbnb

After looking at the pros of working for Airbnb, here are some of the cons that employees have.

1. They are losing their culture

With all of the talk about how great the culture is at Airbnb, some employees have noticed that Airbnb is losing its amazing culture.

While the 2020 pandemic changed some things for the better, such as flexibility and remote work, it has negatively changed the company culture.

Airbnb values its employees and rewards them with incentives and company activities.

Since the acceleration to remote work, the close employee culture has declined since they have been moving away from the office.

Many employees have stated that they would like those opportunities to interact more with their coworkers and bring back that close community feeling.

2. No connection between coworkers

As stated above, the decline of the culture at Airbnb means that there is not as much connection between coworkers.

Before the pandemic, Airbnb would have lots of employee lunches and activities to bring them together as a community.

Since the pandemic, a lot of that has changed.

There have been fewer opportunities for employees to get together with their coworkers, and many of them have noticed the difference.

There isn’t as much connection and community as there used to be.

3. Hard to get promoted/ no room to move up

While many employees like the pay, benefits, and overall work environment, some have noticed that there is not a lot of room for promotion or career growth at Airbnb.

Many companies usually have a starting place and opportunities for growth and promotions.

A vast majority of employees have noticed that there is either no room to grow or it is very hard to get a promotion or raise.

4. Slow months

Although the work and pay are pretty good, there are some slow months.

The slow months make it hard for employees to get enough work to afford rent and other bills that they might be responsible for.

Unfortunately, in this line of business, there are always going to be slow months or an off-season.

Fortunately, the better months make up for the slow period.

5. Disorganized

There have been comments about Airbnb having a problem with organization.

Many employees say that Airbnb can be very disorganized at times.

This leaves both the employees and the customers feeling confused and frustrated.

Unfortunately, their disorganization can leave a bad taste for customers and employees alike.

It only takes one bad experience for people to leave bad reviews.

With enough negative reviews and experiences, it can affect the overall reputation of the company over time.

6. High expectations

This isn’t too much of a con for many employees, but a few are not a fan of the high expectations that Airbnb has.

Fortunately, high expectations don’t seem to be a huge concern for the majority of employees.

However, some locations have higher expectations than others, and it can be stressful for those with higher expectations.

There should be a middle ground for companies when it comes to expectations.

The expectations should be listed clearly for everyone to see so they aren’t blindsided.

Expectations should be equal for all employees, with no one being favored over the others.

The expectations should not be too low or too high.

7. Poor training

Along with the disorganization of Airbnb, many employees have complaints about the training.

Training has gone downhill over the years since Airbnb started.

Employees have reported that management has been trained poorly, which means that newer employees are being trained poorly as well.

As that trickles down, it becomes a bigger problem for the company as a whole, especially when poorly trained employees get promoted and start training other people to do the job.

This results in more people receiving poor training, and takes down the productivity and reputation of the company as a whole.