Airbnb Employee Reviews about "free food"

Pros

Free food and good hours

Cons

The bathrooms are very small

Advice to Management

Keep it free to all

Pros

Perfect for those who like to travel and have a flexible schedule. Free food, great benefits, wonderful work culture. Plenty of chances to work cross functionally outside of the Public Policy department

Cons

Upward mobility is nearly impossible for this role. In 4 years, only 3 people have been promoted from this position into a more senior position.

Pros

Summary: I'm really happy here and it's the best job I've ever had. That said, details: 1. People: The people here are really smart, really nice, and really accommodating of healthy work/life balance which is CRAZY important for longevity and long-term happiness. The people are a pleasure to work with, they're helpful, knowledgeable, and REALLY passionate about the company. I have an amazing Manager who advocates... for me and it's been such a great experience. 2. Projects: The projects here are those you can't find elsewhere simply because Airbnb is a one-of-a-kind company. A lot of the operational problems we're building and fixing haven't been navigated before. You have a chance to create new processes, projects, and impact in this industry. 3. Culture: This place is serious about its culture or "Core Values": do the right thing, advance the mission, don't backstab, don't throw people under the bus, and stand up for the underdog. To give you an idea of the kind of people we want: one of our people raised $20 million for immigrant kids separated from their parents on Facebook-- the largest fundraiser in Facebook's history. 4. Benefits + Compensation: They'll comp you properly, trust me. Airbnb gives a generous total compensation package with lots of stock, fully covered health care/dental/vision for you, $500 in Airbnb credits per quarter, free food (breakfast/lunch/dinner), and all the cool Silicon Valley perks. 5. Flexibility: Work from home, work remotely, take PTO-- just make sure your projects get done. A+++ on this.

Cons

1. Disorganization: Hyper growth mode has created some disorganization and issues with accountability. It can be difficult to get things done with random PTOs and a softer culture when it comes to communication. 2. Career advancement: Upward mobility/ career advancement expectations can be slow or unclear because of the disorganization. You have to advocate for yourself and develop a great relationship with your... manager. 3. Liquidity: Airbnb isn't a public company so those looking to sell their stocks need to wait for a liquidity event or for the company to IPO. As much as stocks are great, they can't pay the bills so giving employees more opportunity to cash out is important for those of us who aren't billionaires. FYI leadership listened to this complaint and they recently gave us a new way to cash out some of our stock + comp which is a great start.

Advice to Management

1. Create and communicate clear paths for career growth and advancement. This is the best way to retain your highest performers who are hungry for more responsibility and impact. 2. Preserve the culture here. It's an amazing and unique strength of the company. You became successful with the current culture; protect it whether or not you decide to go public.

Pros

Fulfilling work. Consistent hours. Decent starting pay for San Francisco. Free food. Good referance on the resume for later work.

Cons

Commuting can be terrible. Parking is a problem for a company that owns so many buildings, it seems like they could aquire the local lots. Hopefully aquisition of the latest building will reduce the problem with the lot on the roof.

Advice to Management

Keep up the good work. Listen to your mid level managers.

Pros

- Visually appealing office - Good salary and benefits - Free food - Company has a good external reputation, solid growth potential

Cons

- More of a hospitality company than a tech company. Engineering isn't a core part of the culture, and it shows in the quality and visibility of the team's work. - Systems receive low traffic levels (compared to those in search, ads, social networking, etc.), so little need to improve efficiency or innovate in the backend space - Weak engineering leadership that won't make hard technical decisions, push through... cross-team initiatives like SOA - Senior IC promotions and external hires based more on visibility than technical skill and impact - Steady stream of departures by strong engineers and managers - Culture of niceness and praise to the extreme. Hard to provide constructive feedback, push back against bad projects. - Cramped, noisy desk areas with low-quality monitors and office furniture - Below average meals and snacks

Pros

I love working at Airbnb for the following reasons: - The people, culture, and offices are awesome. - Great benefits from free food and drinks. - Excellent healthcare for employees and dependents. - Inspiring mission and positive future.

Cons

- Poor 401K match (only 2%) - Inexperienced managers - Salary not that competitive with other tech companies.

Advice to Management

- Listen to your staff. - Don't try to cram too many projects in too tight of deadlines. - Spend money on supporting CX teams. - All offices around the world should be designed and have the same resources as HQ.

Pros

Free food, made in house Quarterly Travel coupon Great product Beautiful office space, not very functional though Excellent maternity/paternity leave

Cons

Most people are only looking out for themselves. Either they are waiting for their RSUs to vest and/or are trying to climb up the ladder using ugly tactics so that they can take that title to the next company. Morals are nonexistent in some groups, especially managers. It's such a shame because the company has a very strong mission but they've made very poor hiring decisions. And if you try to talk to HR - they'll... just come back and tell you that you are the one who is at fault. Have never seen this level of unprofessionalism and ruthlessness any where. People don't even think twice about sidelining those who they think aren't cool enough I.e. Have families whom they have to get home to, don't drink. This is a alcohol heavy culture and it is NOT inclusive of those who don't join in. Also, pay raises, promotions, spot bonuses, are VERY random, no transparency. People go out and get other offers and come back and negotiate their package. If they REALLY believed in the mission, they would not be doing that. Again, week management gives in and rewards people who would be considered mediocre at best at other places OR be fired for harassment of their direct reports.

Advice to Management

Read the recent reviews and take a closer look at what's going on in your company. You guys have a great product. Too bad your company's environment has become so toxic.

Pros

- Friendly and welcoming. I eat lunch with a rotating set of people from my department every day. It's easy to get to know your colleagues. - Cool office and free food. - Interesting projects to work on, and generally good support to find the resources you need.

Cons

- Understaffed. They're growing quickly so there are a lot of new people, and even more work than we can handle. Even so, work/life balance has been ok, mostly because they're really flexible and not a face-time culture. But there's a lot to do.

Advice to Management

Keep thinking about maintaining the culture, and how to support teams that are growing quickly.