Airbnb planning temporary downtown San Jose office amid Bay Area expansion
Company hopes to tap into area’s talent pool with new office
SAN JOSE >> Airbnb, which seeks to revolutionize vacations and getaways, intends to open a downtown San Jose office, the company said Wednesday.
Airbnb said it wants to tap the world-class tech workforce in the San Jose area.
“The South Bay provides a strong talent pool to support our business and we look forward to growing our team,” Ari Balogh, Airbnb’s chief technology officer, said in comments sent to this news organization on Wednesday.
Airbnb, which describes itself as a community-driven hospitality company, said it would open a new, temporary office in San Jose as part of a broader commitment to grow its workforce and presence across the Bay Area.
Word of the Airbnb presence in Silicon Valley also was floated in a LinkedIn post by Joy Zhang, who is listed as head of the AI lab for Airbnb.
“Airbnb is opening an Airbnb Product Development office in the South Bay, starting with a temporary location in San Jose,” Zhang stated in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
The temporary location in San Jose will be at Riverpark Tower at 333 W. San Carlos St. The Airbnb offices are opening through an arrangement with WeWork, a co-working titan that recently re-branded itself as We Company.
“The WeWork Riverpark Tower location will serve as a temporary office while the company looks for permanent space in the South Bay in 2020,” Airbnb said in the email.
About 50 Airbnb employees will work at the new location. The company didn’t disclose the size of the future Silicon Valley workforce or how many permanent locations might be pursued in the South Bay.
“The new space is expected to open in the first quarter of 2019 and the company is actively recruiting to fill some of those open roles, including positions in engineering and recruitment,” Airbnb said.
Airbnb described the downtown San Jose location as the beginning of a broader company commitment to grow its footprint in the South Bay in the coming years. Airbnb said it wants to create highquality jobs that support the region’s tech industry.
The new office space will be part of Airbnb’s network of 34 regional offices on five continents worldwide.