Great Place to Work But Company Culture Feels Like a Cult - Software Engineer Airbnb Employee Review

3.0
Mar 9, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- great benefits and work life balance - good hiring bar - friendly co-workers - relatively little office politics

Cons

They love promoting their work culture and thinks it's absolutely amazing. It's great if you fall very much to the left of the political spectrum like the rest of the company (and SF). But if you happen to have a couple right-wing sympathies like me such as expressing your admiration for Ben Carson in a team lunch, you will be met with frowns and disdain. I overheard an argument where a co-worker said he opposed universal income and everyone around him started to argue with him. I'm pretty sure if you said you liked Trump in any way, you'd be out of the building with all your possessions in a box. Also the co-founders are infallible and worshipped by everyone on the team. Their "Is Mankind" campaign was a terrible "Emperor's New Clothes"-esque flop but no one dared to correct them.

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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