Good morning! As tech companies try to figure out the best way to bring workers together without forcing them into an office, Airbnb is embracing a unique twist on a hybrid model. I’m Sarah Roach, and I got to meet lots of my colleagues for the first time in person last week. All of my height predictions were accurate.
Is this the future of work we’ve been waiting for?
The future of work is messy. Some companies are hoping that fun perks will bring people back to the office, at least a few days a week, while others don’t care if you ever come back to the office. Airbnb seems to have figured out the best of both worlds.
Airbnb announced it will let employees work from anywhere in the world. This doesn’t come as a shock — Brian Chesky has been vocal about work becoming largely remote, and now he’s walking the walk.
- Airbnb employees can work from anywhere in the U.S. or can choose to live in one of 170 different countries for 90 days at a time. Airbnb won’t allow permanent international moves, at least for right now.
- Airbnb won’t cut pay for employees depending on the place they choose to work.
- Instead of having workers back in the office a few days per week, the company will bring teams together on a quarterly basis for off-sites and social gatherings.
Airbnb isn’t the first company to allow people to work from anywhere, but its plan is the least complicated. Some tech companies’ policies come with pay cuts or caps on raises, while other tech companies have adopted hybrid work plans that have become more taxing on employees than enjoyable.
- Tech companies like Google, Twitter and Meta might reduce pay for employees who move to locations with a lower cost of living, and some workers aren’t happy about it.
- Some startups cap salary raises for people moving to areas with a lower cost of living.
- Others allow remote work, but it’s subject to approval from managers (Amazon) or varies by team (Apple). Only a handful of companies allow anyone to work remotely, full stop.
Implementing a hybrid or remote work plan isn’t easy. Many companies are finding it difficult to strike a balance between embracing the changing times and making employees happy with the desire to bring everyone together. Airbnb is one company that seems to be trying to address both issues.
- Doing work in person can be beneficial. Seeing co-workers IRL is helpful for relationship building, and bias against people who live away from the office is something managers should be wary of.
- Airbnb won’t do away with in-person work entirely, but it wants both the “efficiency of Zoom” and the “human connection that only happens when people come together,” so the company plans to host off-sites and social gatherings for its employees. It’s unclear what those get-togethers will look like, but Google just hosted Lizzo for a private concert, so …
The key to allowing people to work remotely is making sure it’s not a headache for everyone. Coinbase recently wrote in a blog post that workers shouldn’t feel punished for their decision to go remote, be it through pay cuts or exclusion from social circles. But Airbnb’s plan is a move toward remote-ish: the ability to live away from an office with the option of having some occasional in-person face-time. It might just be the true hybrid work model of the future.
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People are talking
Warren Buffett still won’t buy into crypto:
- “It’s got a magic to it and people have attached magics to lots of things.”
Devin Nunes said Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover won’t affect TRUTH Social:
- "I don't really view it as a competitor, so we want to see it succeed."
Alphabet’s Dan Spaeth said political PR statements shouldn’t be frowned upon:
- “Whenever these statements are made, they are a PR thing, on some level. That said, I don’t think it’s the worst thing to generate PR in a way that is positive.”
Coming this week
Union votes at Amazon's second Staten Island warehouse will be counted today. If organizers win, they'd be the second-ever group of Amazon workers to vote to unionize.
IAB NewFronts starts today and will feature speakers from Amazon Ads, Freevee, Meta, Roku and more.
“After Steve” drops tomorrow. It’s a book about Apple after Steve Jobs’ death written by Wall Street Journal reporter Tripp Mickle. Here’s an excerpt.
Bill Gates also has a book out tomorrow called “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic.”
Techfluence is Wednesday. The virtual event features exhibitors from Roku and others.
In other news
Salesforce is the latest to rein in NDAs. It’s extending protections from the Silenced No More Act to all U.S. workers.
The EU thinks Apple restricts competition in the mobile wallets market. Antitrust officials just formed a preliminary view that the company limits tech used for contactless payments on mobile devices.
Amazon workers won’t get PTO for COVID-19 leave anymore. Instead, they’ll get five days of excused, unpaid time off.
Uber and Lyft will help out drivers sued under Oklahoma’s new abortion law. They’ll cover legal fees for those sued under the “Heartbeat Act,” which may be signed into law this week.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were spotted in D.C. last week at the screening of a new National Geographic documentary called “We Feed People.”
The Wikimedia Foundation won't accept crypto donations anymore after getting pressure from community members to do so over environmental concerns.
Robert Krakoff died last week at 81 years old. Krakoff was responsible for the Razer Boomslang, the first gaming mouse.
Google’s building a big campus in Hyderabad, India. It’ll be the company’s biggest campus outside its Mountain View HQ, and Google plans to double its employee base there.
Apollo Go and Pony.ai don’t need safety drivers in their robo taxis anymore. A staff member still needs to be there, but they don’t need to sit in the driver's seat.
Nand Mulchandani is the CIA's first CTO. He last held the same role at the Department of Defense.
The social media-less world
I once took a break from Instagram. But I was in middle school, felt extreme FOMO, then redownloaded the app within a week. I’m not the only one who has ditched Instagram, but those who managed to leave it behind for good have some tips if you’re going social media free (at least for a little).
People who have abandoned social media apps told The Wall Street Journal they felt some withdrawal, but that eased over time, and they found other ways to get news and felt more productive. But you’d be surprised by how few people actually remember your birthday when you’re not friends on Facebook.
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