Title: Airbnb is just a feature factory now and we’re the ones dying to build it.

mb · 2026-05-01T17:00:38.925Z

Is anyone else actually looking at the roadmap, or are we just pretending that "Product Excellence" isn’t a code word for "do the work of three people with zero resources"? Since the headcount reduction, the "lean" argument has completely curdled. We aren't lean; we’re hollowed out. I’m currently supporting two legacy pods while trying to push features for a platform that feels like it’s being held together by duct tape and my diminishing sanity. Management keeps preaching about "velocity" in the Town Halls, but you can’t squeeze velocity out of a skeleton crew that’s already working through weekends just to keep the search latency from spiking. It’s insulting. We’re losing the institutional knowledge that actually makes this platform function, and in its place, we’re getting more performative JIRA tickets and "do more with less" platitudes. If the goal was to burn out the remaining talent until we all quit, bravo. You’re ahead of schedule.

Title: Airbnb is just a feature factory now and we’re the ones dying to build it. | Airbnb Discussions