Airbnb freezes hiring and suspends marketing as coronavirus spreads

Airbnb will institute a hiring freeze and postpone its marketing as the company deals with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a person knowledgeable with the matter said, who asked to remain anonymous, according to CNBC.

The founders of the company will also be taking on no salary and its executives will take half salary for the next six months. Furthermore, workers have been told that it is not likely that they will get their bonus for this year. The hiring freeze will impact all everyone with an exception of a very small amount of critical positions, according to the person. 

The company is dealing a crisis in travel and tourism industry which are shut down throughout the world and is refunding guests for cancellations. The U.S. Travel Association expects the industry to lose 4.6 million jobs in 2020.

Coronavirus has so far infected over 752,747 people and killed 36,226 worldwide. About 145,542 people in the US have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 2,616 people in the country.