In 2014, Airbnb moved its Dublin HQ from Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4 to the Watermarque building in Ringsend. He added that the city was an emerging technology epicentre in Europe, with nearly every language represented. In September that year, it publicly signalled its intention to set up European headquarters in Dublin.Ĭhesky said at the time that Dublin was chosen because Ireland “has hospitality in its DNA” and is known for its warm welcome. The statement also informed employees outside the US that they “will receive at least 14 weeks of pay, plus tenure increases consistent with their country-specific practices”.Īlthough the company had a presence in Ireland from 2012, Airbnb announced plans to significantly ramp up its Irish operations on its company blog in 2013. He said the company has raised $2 billion (about €1.8 billion) in capital and “ dramatically cut costs” in response to the crisis. “We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill.” Workers have been told that the Dublin customer service team will suffer the worst of the cuts with around 100 out of the targeted 190 redundancies coming from that team alone.Ĭhesky, the chief executive, said in his statement last month that the company had been “hit hard” by the sudden downturn in business, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what was made in 2019. The Dublin figure is substantially higher than the global company-wide planned reduction of 25%. However, this website has seen internal communications sent to employees detailing plans for approximately 190 staff members to depart the company.Ī spokesperson for the company confirmed that over 500 people were employed in Dublin and that around 35% of staff based in the capital would be made redundant as part of the company’s plans. TheJournal.ie now understands that over half of the Dublin workforce, some 320 employees, are involved in a consultation process with the company, which will result in around 190 redundancies.Īirbnb could not confirm its exact employee headcount in the capital or the exact number of redundancies that would be sought. On 8 May, company chief executive and founder Brian Chesky announced that out of 7,500 employees globally, “nearly 1,900 teammates will have to leave Airbnb, comprising around 25% of our company”.Īt the time of the announcement, it wasn’t clear if the cuts would significantly impact the company’s Dublin office, where it employs just over 500 people.

Seán O'Neill, managing director of Park Developments, developer of the Reflector, said his company was 'delighted to welcome Airbnb' as the building's latest tenant, following completion of construction last November.AIRBNB PLANS TO shed 35% of its Dublin workforce.Įmployees have been told that the company is targeting 190 redundancies at its European headquarters in Grand Canal Docks, because of the decline in its online bookings business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company said its new lease at Hanover Quay would not increase its capacity, describing the move as a “like-for-like exchange of space.” This is about four times the space it initially occupied when it first opened its Dublin office five years ago, highlighting its rapid growth to date. When complete the company will occupy nearly 7,430sq m (80,000sq ft) of space on Hanover Quay, at the heart of Dublin’s so-called Silicon Docks. A spokesperson for Airbnb said the move would allow the company to have its Dublin team “more closely linked”, rather than continuing to occupy two offices some distance apart. The company now plans to end its lease at the Watermarque, and relocate employees currently based there to the Reflector towards the end of 2019, once Dublin-based firm Heneghan Peng completes the fit-out of the new offices. In 2014 the company selected the Watermarque building in Ringsend as its European regional headquarters, and it retained those offices after expanding to its current warehouse-style headquarters on Hanover Quay in 2016. Online short lettings firm Airbnb has leased more than 3,715sq m (40,000sq ft) of space at the Reflector office building on Hanover Quay, directly beside its existing European headquarters building, and plans to build a physical link between the two blocks.

The watermarque building airbnb