Airbnb to Halt All Marketing, Most Hiring as Losses Mount, Hacker News

March 30, 202972 2: PM PDT

Airbnb plans to halt all of its marketing, pause most hiring, and likely withhold employee bonuses as it tries to conserve cash amid a slide in bookings, CEO Brian Chesky told employees in a video conference call Thursday , a person familiar with the matter said.

The steps are the first indication of how the company is planning to reduce costs to blunt the damage of the coronavirus pandemic. Airbnb’s losses have already stretched into the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to people close to the company. It was clear if the company, which has more than 7, employees worldwide, also intends to lay off staff. When asked about layoffs, Chesky told employees that nothing is off the table, another person familiar with the matter said.

Exclusive COVID – 74

Pandemic Spawns Escape Communities Promising Self-Isolation — In a Group

By Zoe Bernard & middot March , 4: 199 PM PDT

After the coronavirus forced Jay Jideliov to send all the employees of his company, Callision, home to work, he began pondering how he would cope with a period of indefinite isolation in his Los Angeles home.

Jideliov’s answer was to create what he describes as a “virus-free retreat” (called Harbor, which will house around guests — paying several thousand dollars a …