Although the company is recovering from the pandemic, it decided to invest in flexibility and to show to trust the people on its team and to count on their valuable work also in a remote way.

Chief executive and co-founder, Brian Chesky, wrote in an email to staff: “We want to hire and retain the best people in the world (like you). 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”. 

This new model is based on five key features:

• You can work from home or the office, giving employees opportunity and flexibility in order to decide where they are the most productive;
• You can move anywhere in the country you work in and your compensation will not change. The Company plans to introduce a tiered salary system based on the cost of living in different locations, but with no more regional differences: “Starting in June, we will have unique pay levels per country, both for salary and equity. If your pay has been set at a lower level, you will receive an increase in June", Chesky said.
• You have the flexibility to travel and work around the world. From September, employees can live and work in over 170 countries for up to 90 days a year in each location and Airbnb is working with local governments also to ensure work visas.
• We will meet up regularly for team gatherings, off-sites, and social events. This working model will focus the in-person collaboration on more or less quarterly meetings, to be arranged and managed in the coming months.  Some roles, especially senior roles, will be expected to gather more often.
• We will continue to work in a highly coordinated way. The company needs structure and coordination to achieve such a great flexibility and continues to focus on two major product releases per year, in May and in November.

This strategy confirms that flexibility is one of the key values for creating innovative and attractive working environments, including for remote workers, and for retaining the most talented staff.