Pros
- if you love traveling, learning on your own and having flexibility and an amazing food program you'll love that. - The environment, overall, is very good and it really feels like a friendly space you want to go to, every day, at least during your 1st year. - A good place to learn and further develop extra skills since you'll have role-related responsibilities but you'll also take on projects more linked to Program management, relationship management etc. If you are someone who can work independently and does not get affected by other people's opinions or take things personally, you'll be great there! it is a very good place to work. - The travel benefits, parties, food program and opportunities to impact change within the organization are great. Since it is a flat organization creating structure now, there is a lot going on where employees have a voice. - Flexibility, Work from home and very understanding leaders, in some departments. - I personally see the founders as truly inspiring people. Honestly, I do really believe in them. I do share their vision which helps to continue to work hard. They are really committed to what they do and they have a huge sense of humanity.
Cons
- Airbnb is full of talented people whose talent is not being used. If you have worked in other companies, in the same role and have experience, you'll be assumed as new in the role. Some managers will even ask you to forget everything you know prior to Airbnb - when during the interview process they insist they need people with experience to help them grow. - There is also a lot of people who started working in the company from the very beginning and the majority of them got in as a first job - that does not mean they are not talented - However, almost all of them got promoted at the time based on tenure and not based on where their skills and potential can be most effectively used - and you'll find often that they do not accept easily 'new Airbnb hires' opinion's, guidance or recommendations - they won't listen to understand challenges that could occur. Almost all of them will patronize you and assume you do not know how things work there. Very frustrating. - You'll constantly hear: we are all about feedback - not true. Feedback is sugar coated and often not given, up to the point that your annual review will be a complete surprise. Even when you ask and create a safe environment for it to happen/ If someone spots an irregularity, they'll assume you are doing your own thing instead of assuming good intent and having a conversation directly with you to understand where the misunderstanding lies, and if they do communicate the issue, they'll make sure to copy everyone on CC. - Mean gossiping happens often. If you are new in the org and do not do what they do, talk like they talk and go where they go, you'll definitely be a target. Understanding that some people joining the company now have friends and relationships outside prior to Airbnb seems to be something difficult to understand by some. Forget to talk to management about it, it is often considered by higher management as a personality clash, even if it impacts you psychosomatically and psychologically. - Bad performance is not managed. People on conduct issues are promoted to other roles. - The majority of the current leads and operations managers are in the role with no Knowledge of what the impact of KPI's is for business and neither how they can impact the results. - There is no strategic view there is no knowledge on how to support their direct team's career development, there are no specific goals, so it is difficult for you to understand what are the areas you can improve on. - There is a huge lack of employee self-awareness - at any level; Everyone thinks they know better. Everyone thinks their truth is the right approach and the only one and they all consider themselves as top performers. - Blaming others when something does not happen as it was meant to happen is always someone else's fault.