Join the cult and give up any free time in your life. - Recruiting Coordinator Airbnb Employee Review

2.0
Feb 18, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The office was great. The fact that lunch, snacks, coffee, water were provided was a big bonus.

Cons

Very young office, it often felt like some kind of popularity contest. A lot of big egos around. Their recruitment process is so intense and they make people go though so many interviews, you would think that the most up-standing people work there. One of the things they interview you on is your "core values" which have to match that of the company. The top "core value" is to "be a host". In other words, be warm and welcoming, be a team player, and basically convey what your company is selling: hospitality. Well most of the people I worked with there were the exact opposite of this! I felt like I was in the movie Mean Girls every day. The hours we had to work were beyond ridiculous and excessive and having any kind of family or personal life is very difficult outside of work. A lot of the time it feels like a lot of very young people just running around not knowing what they are really doing, pretending to be important with their meetings and high-fives. This company also wastes an enormous amount of money on stuff I think is so unnecessary, like excessive alcohol for employee happy hours, sweets, cakes, and other things like that. There are people who have very weird job titles, and it is not really clear what they do other than walk around the office pretending to be busy and important. It's nice to have but then when you think of the cost of it, you'd think you'd rather have that going into your paycheck.

Explore other reviews about Airbnb

5.0
Mar 19, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good culture, cool product, great CEO

Cons

Too much politics; things are moving pretty slowly

5.0
Jun 4, 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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