Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky explains a better version of hybrid work

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has given his employees the liberty to work from wherever they want and now has some tips for other organisations.

In an interview with Inc. magazine, Chesky said he did not believe that the hybrid method -- asking employees to come to office two to three days per week -- will work.

That form of hybrid work does not provide professionals a lot more flexibility than the pre-pandemic period, Chesky said.

“Maybe instead of asking you to come in three days a week, which I don't think will work because three days a week will become two days a week, and two days a week will become one day a week, and then everyone comes in the office a different one day a week,” the Airbnb CEO continued.

He said he envisioned a different kind of hybrid work. “Where we combined the efficiency of Zoom with the infrequency, but the meaningfulness, of interpersonal interaction by getting together one week a quarter,” he told the magazine. “And frankly, if that's not enough, we can adjust it.”

Chesky said a better version of the hybrid model would be assuming that people will be wherever they work best.

He told Inc. magazine that those who want everyone back to working from office are over 50.

"I understand that. It's a generational thing,” he said. "There's just a demographic thing, like the older you are, the more inclined you are to be uncomfortable with the idea of flexibility and digitization."