Airbnb to allow staff to work from anywhere
US: Airbnb has announced it will allow its employees to work from anywhere without their salaries being cut.
At other tech firms including Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, pay has been cut for employees who have chosen to work remotely.
Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky outlined the new corporate policy in an email to staff, describing the move as an attempt to attract and retain talent.
“We want to hire and retain the best people in the world (like you),” said Chesky. “If we limited our talent pool to a commuting radius around our offices, we would be at a significant disadvantage. The best people live everywhere, not concentrated in one area. And by recruiting from a diverse set of communities, we will become a more diverse company.”
By June of this year, Airbnb will have single pay tiers by country for both salary and equity awards. Those whose pay was set to a lower location-based pay tier will see their salary increased as a result.
And by September, employees will be able to live and work in more than 170 countries for up to 90 days per year in each location. Employees will have to tobtain work authorisation themselves, though Airbnb will lobby governments to offer remote work visas – available in more than 20 countries presently.
“Most companies don’t do this because of the mountain of complexities with taxes, payroll, and time zone availability, but I hope we can open-source a solution so other companies can offer this flexibility as well,” said Chesky.
Airbnb will continue to support office work and will require employees in some roles to work from an office or a specific location due to the nature of their roles.
