Home rental firm Airbnb has laid off 30 per cent of its recruiting staff this week, according to a report in Bloomberg. The job cuts affected 0.4 per cent of the company's total workforce of 6,800. A company spokesperson told the outlet, "We've become a leaner and more focused company over the last three years. The company expects to grow its headcount this year."
The spokesperson added the company had made a "difficult decision to reorganize and reduce the size of our recruiting team to reflect our hiring projections."
Airbnb added that it is not an indication of more widespread layoffs. In contrast to the 11 per cent growth experienced last year, the company predicted staff growth in the range of 2 per cent to 4 per cent in 2023. Airbnb also plans to expand its overall headcount this year.
While many of its competitors have reduced their growth projections due to increased borrowing rates and a slowdown in the entire industry, Airbnb has been one of the few IT companies to avoid major layoffs. In the meanwhile, as demand for travel increased following the pandemic, the travel industry mostly remained resilient.
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Last month, the company reported its first annual profit, with revenue surging in the final three months of 2022 as travel bookings rebounded. The home-rental platform said it made a profit of $319 million in the final quarter of last year on revenue of nearly $2 billion.
According to the San Francisco-based corporation, they ended 2022 with a net income of $1.9 billion as opposed to a deficit of $352 million the previous year.
During the pandemic, Airbnb had laid off 25 per cent of its workforce or about 1,900 employees. The decision was made when the rental major's operations virtually ceased due to global constraints brought on by the Covid-19. Brian Chesky, the CEO of the company said in a blog post at the time that "global travel came to a standstill" as the Covid-19 induced crisis unfolded.
