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On April 28, Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, announced that going forward, Airbnb employees can work remotely from anywhere in the world. While pushed into remote roles like most employees during the pandemic, most Airbnb employees won’t be going back to the office, unless they want to.
Shortly after this announcement, Google saw a huge uptick in searches for “Airbnb careers.” While you might think this only correlates to people dreaming of working for Airbnb while they travel the world, I’d say it’s much bigger than that.
Although a handful of people were already working remotely from all corners of the world before 2020, that year showed us just how flexible our careers are. We’ve realized that we’re able to do our jobs while working from home, working from a vacation rental in a different city, or working from a different country of the world every few months.
In March 2022, there were approximately 14,800 monthly searches for the term “airbnb careers,” while just one month later, after the announcement, Google saw 40,500 searches for the exact same keyword. That’s an increase of 173% in just one month, with a vast majority of searches actually coming at the tail end of April.
Washington D.C. had the most searches, followed closely by Washington State, Utah, Colorado, California, and Oregon. Given that many of these states or areas are some of the most expensive cities in the country, yet surrounded by incredible nature and smaller, more affordable towns, it’s not surprising that people in these states are most interested in working remotely.
As part of the announcement, Airbnb has stated that employee’s salaries will not change. They’ve created single pay tiers by country and regardless of where you live, you’ll receive the payment for your country of residency. This will allow people to move to less expensive states, cities, or countries, all while receiving the same pay they would if they stay put in big cities like Seattle, San Francisco, or D.C.
It’s tempting to think all of this has to do with working at the company that so many of us have turned to during the pandemic to work remotely ourselves. Instead, though, I’d argue that it’s part of a larger trend that more and more companies will catch on to. Just as years ago it was rare to see someone working on a laptop rather than a desktop, I’d say in the near future it’ll be rare to find people who work strictly from an office, rather than remotely. Soon more and more people will prefer to work remotely and constantly change places in weeks/months. For example, one week you are working from Hawaii and the very next week you can go on a staycation in Ireland and work from there.
Top 10 Places to Work Remotely
If you’re also dreaming of working for a company that, like Airbnb, prioritizes working from anywhere, where would you choose to work from?
With so many great places to work remotely, we’ve narrowed it down to the top 10 places in the U.S. that we believe are ideal for remote workers. Our rankings take into account great internet coverage, close proximity to nature and things to do, and a lower comparative cost of living.
- Bozeman, Montana
- Savannah, Georgia
- Camden, Maine
- Boulder, Colorado
- Austin, Texas
- St. Augustine, Florida
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Asheville, North Carolina
- St. George, Utah
- Rapid City, South Dakota
The only question left is: Which one will you choose as your work from home base first?
