Airbnb is looking to exit the Chinese market by the end of July this year and will be letting go of 60 employees from the country, Pandaily reported.
The move was reportedly announced by Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb co-founder and chairperson for China, in an internal meeting. The company will let property owners on its local platform know of the decision as early as today.
While the company will be laying off some of its workers, it will keep 150 staff members for a new China outbound office, which will focus on Chinese users traveling overseas.
According to a separate report from CNBC, Airbnb’s operations in China only contribute about 1% of its total revenue. The announcement comes as the country has become increasingly costly for the company to operate in – a problem the pandemic has worsened.
Chinese businesses such as Alibaba, Blibli, Tencent, and JD.com have witnessed layoffs recently. Earlier this month, it was reported that Chinese online housing firm Beike faced a new round of layoffs, affecting its R&D and operations teams, among others.
See also: 50 rising startups in China
Editing by Jaclyn Tiu
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