Mission Driven, Engaging, and Tiring - Anonymous employee Airbnb Employee Review

4.0
3 Aug 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Mission driven. It's wonderful to work for a community and an executive staff who try, at all times, to do what's right. With a clear mission statement as a company, work feels meaningful, as even my level contributes to this grandiose vision of a better world. Sure, we make missteps, but the humility inherent in our culture means that we learn profound lessons from those missteps. The perks. Pay, benefits, wellness program, office environment, etc. All top notch. The people. With few exceptions (you know who you are... well, you probably don't), Airbnb people are kind, compassionate, engaging, and hardworking. Because we all subscribe to a common set of core values, it makes it easy to work together and to have a strong social network at work. This leads to more creativity, productivity, and engagement.

Cons

- Chaos and time scarcity. There's so much to do, and so little time to do it. Calendars are packed back to back to back with meetings, leaving little to no time for deep work, focus, or even email. It can be difficult to get decisions made, as everyone wants to have skin in the game, with little trust that a small, effective working group can actually be effective without everyone who's anyone providing input and direction. This place can chew you up and spit you out if you can't draw boundaries and maintain resiliency, which, to be fair, Airbnb has many programs to support.

Explore other reviews about Airbnb

5.0
25 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good time working there lots of cool people

Cons

overly-design-led, constant changing priorities based on whims from global leads

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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