The gig economy has a labor shortage. That’s the takeaway from Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky’s statement on CNBC today that Airbnb will need “millions more hosts” to meet demand once travel picks up after the pandemic. Just last week, Uber said it didn’t have enough drivers to meet demand.
Both are suffering from the after-effects of the pandemic, of course, when ride-hailing and travel both dried up. Drivers had to find other work. Airbnb infamously alienated hosts by letting customers cancel their bookings with full refunds when the pandemic hit.
