Airbnb Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): a brief overview

Airbnb corporate social responsibility is closely associated with business model of the travel industry disruptor.  It can be argued that travelling via Airbnb instead of hotels results in significant reduction in energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste, and encourages more sustainable practices among both hosts and guests.

CSR Programs and Initiatives

Airbnb Supporting Local Communities

• Airbnb employees receive four hours of paid time off every month to volunteer in their local communities.[1]
• Global Citizenship Champion program launched in 2013 involves organizing charitable contributions to causes important to their local communities in 20 cities around the world
• Champions within the scope of Global Citizenship Champion program completed more than 17000 hours of service in 2016.
• Airbnb runs Open Homes program that provides homes for free to those affected by conflict, disaster, or critical illness. The program has helped more than 25,000 people in need to find temporary housing and in 2019 the company is investing USD 20 million to grow the platform. Airbnb aims to house 100,000 people by 2022.[2]

Airbnb and Gender Equality and Minorities

• Diversity is one of the core values at Airbnb. 48.94% and 43.85% of employees are female, globally and in the US respectively. The figure 10 below illustrates race and ethnicity representation at Airbnb in the US.

Ethnicity representation at Airbnb in the US

• Airbnb has “Diverse Candidate Slates” rule. For every open position, women and underrepresented minorities must be included on candidate slates before those slates are presented to hiring managers and the manager is allowed to proceed with filling the position.[3]
• The peer-to-peer lodging company has a wide range of Airfinity groups that create more awareness and advocacy around the issues employees value. Airfinity employee groups include Able@ for employees with disabilities, AirPride@ for LGBTQ people, Asians@, Black@, Foreignairs@, Juntos@, Natives@ and others.

Airbnb other CSR Initiatives and Charitable Donations

• The company runs Airbnb Open Homes a global program that provides free or low-cost, short-term stays on our platform for individuals and families during times of need or celebration such as medical patients travelling for treatment, low-income students travelling to visit universities, or social entrepreneurs travelling to change the world.[4]
• After Superstorm Sandy in US in 2012, Airbnb built a tool that enabled 1,400 Airbnb hosts in New York to open their homes to displaced neighbours.

Airbnb Inc. Report contains a full analysis of Airbnb corporate social responsibility including Airbnb CSR issues. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on Airbnb. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Airbnb leadership, business strategy, organizational structure and organizational culture. The report also comprises discussions of Airbnb marketing strategy and its ecosystem.

[1] Social Impact (2019) Airbnb Citizen, Available at: https://www.airbnbcitizen.com/social-impact/

[2] Airbnb Launches Donations Feature to Support Communities in Times of Need (2019) Airbnb Press Room, Available at: https://press.airbnb.com/airbnb-launches-donations-feature-to-support-communities-in-times-of-need/

[3] Diversity at Airbnb (2017) Airbnb, Available at: https://press.airbnb.com/diversity-at-airbnb/

[4] Social Impact (2019) Airbnb Citizen, Available at: https://www.airbnbcitizen.com/social-impact/