Working here over a year... - Anonymous employee Airbnb Employee Review

5.0
18 Nov 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Compensation: pays more than any other tech company (Google, FB, etc) PLUS new cash bonus PLUS can choose to take your equity refreshers (no cliff) in cash. They also bump everyone to above midpoint of the range, which is really kind and close any gaps for pay equity. - Business is doing really well: we're profitable, have money to invest in employees + new ventures, never worried about money. Not even having a round of funding for this far out is amazing. - Great benefits. Free airbnb credits (never expire), lots of PTO and time off, easy parking lot next to the building (they reimburse the price), free lyft credits, top notch food program, etc. - Management is honest about their pitfalls and is honest about fixing it. I appreciate this because they could sweep it under the rug. - We're heavily invested in our infrastructure as a 2019 focus. Even hired a CTO who has decades of infrastructure heavy lifting under his belt. Sweet! - People are really kind and helpful. Fairly rare. There are always going to be politics because people befriend eachother, but honestly you can set up a meeting with a director and they will help you resolve easily. As long as you speak out, people will listen.

Cons

Typical growing pains for our size, honestly. For a long time, Airbnb was flat and you could grow your career quickly since the company was small. Now they're trying to add ways to grow your career and make it defined and achievable since there's not low hanging fruit from a flat org, which is good. There's also increased attrition for people who have been here 5-7+ years, but honestly I think fresh people who are excited and new have been better for my team personally. Many managers are also junior, but we've started to hire senior managers - my manager's manager has been doing a great job shaping and changing, which I appreciate.

Explore other reviews about Airbnb

5.0
8 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Laid back, strong mentorship/training, and good team chemistry.

Cons

Online only, they had summer branch offices, but nobody went in.

5.0
4 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Airbnb's mission of creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere strongly resonates with me. I'm excited by the opportunity to build products that operate at global scale and directly impact millions of users. My background in full-stack engineering, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and AI-powered applications aligns well with Airbnb's focus on innovation, reliability, and exceptional user experiences. I am particularly attracted to Airbnb's engineering culture, emphasis on ownership, and commitment to solving complex technical challenges while delivering meaningful value to hosts, guests, and communities worldwide.

Cons

One challenge of working at Airbnb is the complexity that comes with operating a global platform at scale. Engineering teams must balance reliability, performance, compliance, and user experience across many markets and stakeholders. While this can make development and decision-making more complex, it is also one of the aspects that makes the work technically interesting and professionally rewarding.

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