Airbnb went from a likely 2020 public debut to laying off 1,900 people and cutting projects. Here's how we got here.

• The coronavirus pandemic has stalled Airbnb's big 2020 plans, including a potential initial public offering.
• As business dropped off dramatically, the travel giant cut 25% of its workforce in May.
• Now, Airbnb is betting on longer-term stays and online experiences as it navigates the pandemic.
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Airbnb had been a hotly-anticipated candidate for a 2020 public market debut before the coronavirus pandemic grounded travelers.

The company, once valued at roughly $31 billion by private investors, is among numerous high-profile "sharing economy" companies built during the past decade whose businesses are now being devastated by the crisis.

Now, it's slashed jobs and the company is reimagining itself as a platform for longer-term stays as opposed to just quick vacations.

Here's everything we know about what's going on inside Airbnb:

Layoffs and other workforce changes

• Airbnb is cutting 25% of staff — 1,900 jobs — after its business has been slammed by the coronavirus crisis
• Read the full memo Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky just sent to staff announcing 1,900 job cuts. It lays out severance details and which teams are getting hit the hardest.
• A memo from Airbnb's CEO announcing huge staff cuts is a case study in how leaders can conduct layoffs in a compassionate way
• Airbnb won praise for how it laid off employees but the generous benefits weren't extended to contractors, reinforcing Silicon Valley's two-tier workforce culture
• Airbnb laid off most of its contractors and postponed summer internships during a Zoom Q&A with the company's CEO
• Airbnb has postponed new grad hires until August 2021 but is giving them 10% of their offered salary right now — even if they turn down the job
  

New business focuses

• Airbnb says it's going to focus on longer-term stays, but analysts worry its short-term rental roots will make it hard to grab a piece of the $18 billion market
• Airbnb is now offering online experiences via Zoom video calls. I tried 2 of them and would readily sign up for more — here's why
• Airbnb and RXR Realty are scrapping a partnership at Rockefeller Center that the home-sharing giant's CEO touted as a '21st-century hospitality model'
  

Road to an IPO

• Airbnb is raising $1 billion in debt, its second fundraising round in just two weeks, as the company tries to navigate a tough economic landscape
• Some large Airbnb investors have slashed their internal valuations of the company by more than 30% as the pandemic halts travel
• Airbnb could boom after the coronavirus downturn, assuming it survives the crisis
• Airbnb's losses swelled to $674 million last year, even before the coronavirus crisis crushed its business
• The coronavirus crisis has exposed a crucial weakness in Airbnb's business model and it's likely to haunt the $31 billion company's IPO plans
• Airbnb was supposed to ignite a boom of tech startup direct listings, but then the coronavirus killed the IPO market

Leadership

• Airbnb is facing an unprecedented threat from the coronavirus. Here are the veteran execs on Airbnb's board of directors who will be critical to CEO Brian Chesky's success or failure.
• Airbnb's CEO compared the coronavirus crisis to Hurricane Maria, saying its business will bounce back, just as it did after the storm that ravaged Puerto Rico
• Meet CEO Brian Chesky, who cofounded Airbnb in 2008 to help pay his San Francisco apartment's rent and is now worth $4.1 billion.

Investments

• Airbnb-backed Zeus Living slashes almost half of its remaining staff less than two months after a round of layoffs
• Airbnb-backed corporate housing startup Zeus Living is asking landlords to renegotiate their leases and withholding April and May rent until they sign
• Airbnb-backed Zeus Living just laid off 30% of staff as the coronavirus upends travel and hospitality startups

Changes for hosts

• Airbnb is establishing a new cleaning protocol for hosts to limit spread of COVID-19
• Airbnb hosts will be charged fees if they cancel summer bookings due to coronavirus concerns
• Airbnb employees chipped in $1 million from their own pockets to help economically devastated hosts, and that says something beautiful, and scary
• Airbnb's hosts aren't impressed with the company's $260 million package to make up for coronavirus cancellations. 'People see it for what it is — it's PR.'

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