"Company Is Not Family": Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Shares Mistake He Made During Layoffs

Airbnb Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Chesky recently shared the mistake he made while conducting layoffs at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020. While speaking at a podcast, Mr Chesky revealed that he penned a note to employees explaining that the company would conduct layoffs. "I have a deep feeling of love for all of you," he wrote. But he added that he would frame his appreciation differently today. 

"Thinking of your workplace as family can be an effective motivational tool, but it can also make it difficult for bosses and employees alike to do their jobs," Mr Chesky said, as per CNBC Make It. 

"I wrote that letter fairly quickly... I didn't have a lot of time, and so I wrote what I felt and that's what I felt, and I was pretty emotional when I was writing it," Mr Chesky said. He claimed that he reviewed, at the time, the name of each employee being let go, and added that while he didn't know everyone leaving, he wanted to be aware that it was a long-term and thorough choice. 

Mr Chesky then admitted that he wasn't running a family, or if it was a family it would be a dysfunctional one. "It is true that a company's not a family. In fact, we had to make that pivot," he explained. 

"We used to refer to ourselves as a family, and then we did have to fire people or they'd have to leave the company and yeah, you don't fire members of your family," he continued. 

Further, Mr Chesky said that while he has since backed away from his family-based culture, he stands by the sentiment to some degree - making business relationships less frosty. He wanted to communicate a sense of production to those who left, providing them with vested equity as well as what he claims to be a string network. 

"Trust is integral to good teams," said Mr Chesky, and while the company might not be brothers and sisters, "there can be a bond that can be deeper than a typical work contract," he added. 

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Mr Chesky also revealed that part of what led to his layoff love letter was a feeling that other companies were being disrespectful as they sent out very formal notices. "It's pretty inhumane. It seems like a human being didn't write it. It feels like an AI prompt or something," he said, adding that "AI is more compassionate than most of these layoff letters, and I think what ends up happening is that the CEOs get very risk averse." 

Notably, according to Fortune, in 2020, Airbnb laid off 1,900 workers and suspended projects not directly related to home-sharing, such as movie productions and transportation. However, two years later, the firm announced that employees were allowed to work out of anywhere and their salaries wouldn't be affected.