Vrbo reviews

3.6

65% would recommend to a friend

(733 total reviews)

Jeff Hurst

67% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

Vrbo has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 733 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Vrbo employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

733 reviews
2.0
Mar 9, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great office layout. Great vacation policy. Workers in general are pretty relaxed and easy to work with. Opportunity to temporarily work remote or at any of the several offices around the globe.

Cons

Since the Expedia acquisition, the company has internally been on the rapid decline. The new CEO has seen fit to push politics to the forefront of the agenda rather than the needs of our customers. Many of us liked the talk of promoting diversity in the beginning. And this may even sound great to you reading this. But the manner in which is it being forced from the top-down is causing rifts. They are even pressing for people to take the scientifically dubious "implicit bias" test (which is highly ironic considering they are attempting to brand the company as being scientific). To illustrate the type of strife this is causing, on International Women's Day, some of the women (I don't know who they are, but I believe they are involved in promoting events and activities either at HomeAway or possibly Expedia as a whole) decided to celebrate and raise awareness of the day by generously buying flowers (thanks!). This stirred some controversy as most of the commentary on this was that it was a regressive action as opposed to the sign of appreciation and promotion of the day that it was intended to be. There were a handful that voiced their appreciation of the action, and given the environment, I have a hunch that there were more who felt the same, but didn't want to stand out. Additionally, it's become acceptable to tell individuals not to speak on a topic unless they belong to certain groups. There was a discussion regarding an increase in the number of women in a certain group. And it was rightly pointed out that it still was not equal. A man pointed out that it was important to celebrate the progress on the way to the goal, but was told something along the lines of "maybe we should let the women speak on this instead of the men". Mind you, this was not a random comment in the hall. This was in a company chat room. Which the CEO personally reads. Which makes it clear that the company is ok with certain discrimination and wants to encourage, no, force, this division from the top down. My guess is that it's an attempt to drive off those who disagree with the direction and create more of an echo chamber. Bottom line, if you care about the work and satisfying customers, HomeAway is to be avoided.

avatar
Vrbo Response
8y
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about diversity and inclusion at HomeAway. It is a current and very relevant topic that impacts our employees, our partners and our travelers, and at it is at the core of our company values and strategy. We are in a marketplace that connects people from around the world, and incorporating diverse ideas helps us gain a truly global perspective. HomeAway values inclusion as a prerequisite for innovation. When we broaden our cognitive diversity, we have a better understanding of our employees, and that facilitates a positive employee experience, insightful collaboration and fuels our technological and global growth. We welcome all feedback – not just the praise, but also the criticism. If all we talked about were the triumphs, then we’d be missing half the conversation – the half that can show us where we lack awareness, or could do a better job of raising awareness. Difficult conversations often reveal our blind spots and show us where we need to improve as a company, and as individuals. An open, inclusive culture is something we cherish and want to support -- and improve. We want HomeAway to be a place where people feel safe to voice their ideas and concerns, debate many different perspectives and challenge the status quo. We’re working hard to support this core value, but we aren’t perfect. We are a work in progress, and we can’t succeed without your help, because you -- and all of our employees -- are the heart and soul of this company. None of our employees should feel or be told that their opinion doesn’t matter or that they shouldn’t speak up. That’s why we try to provide a variety of opportunities for meaningful conversations on topics ranging from implicit bias to interpersonal communication. Over the past year we’ve hosted events led or facilitated by outside experts and their colleagues, with a great deal of thought and planning around ways to help people feel more comfortable participating in important conversations. Our Slack channels, Affinity Groups, Business Partners and internal events that celebrate diversity and inclusion are meant to be an extension of those conversations – and to provide a place where people can support one another and build relationships. I’m sorry to hear about the instances noted here, and I’m sure you aren’t alone in these feelings and opinions. But I’m also glad to have this information so we can include it in future employee diversity and inclusion conversations. And these conversations are absolutely worth continuing. HomeAway has grown and changed a lot over the years, and we know that’s caused some growing pains. We are all still learning as we go – and when we fall short, we want to learn from our mistakes so we can do a better job of helping our employees learn and grow, too. Please feel free to reach out to me, John Kim or your Business Partner directly if you’d like to share any other comments and concerns. Thanks again, Ana Mitrasevic VP, Human Resources
2.0
Jan 3, 2019

Meh

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

ACL Fest sponsorship Paid time off Medical benefits Expedia discounts

Cons

Research Park Plaza office is depressing compared to all other locations. No opportunity to work from home. It seems people are hired and promoted for reasons other than their competence. Pay isn't high enough to retain talent.

2.0
Aug 7, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Up to 4 weeks of PTO, which is generous but the sick time takes ages to accumulate. I worked there for 2 months before I had to call in sick a day and I didn't even have 8 hours saved up. -There's plenty of opportunities to move around within the company but only if you stay in the same department.

Cons

-Unwillingness to listen to the department as a whole -High turnover rate due to job misrepresentation -Unnecessary performance plans -Lack of goals

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