Airbnb
Large (~7,300)
Scale AI
Large (~1,200)
Best For
Airbnb
Best for: Engineers who want Live Anywhere flexibility with strong comp and no pay cuts
Scale AI
Best for: Ambitious builders who want critical AI infrastructure work serving top-tier clients
Ratings
AirbnbScale AI
4.1
3.5
Overall
4.0
2.7
Work-Life Balance
4.2
2.9
Culture & Values
4.2
3.5
Comp & Benefits
3.5
2.8
Senior Mgmt
3.5
3.6
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 87% CEO Approval (Brian Chesky)
👍 56% Recommend
👤 60% CEO Approval (Alexandr Wang)
Culture Values
Airbnb only
🌐 Remote-Friendly⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🔓 Open Source💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Scale AI only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Shared
None
Pros & Cons
Airbnb
- Live and Work Anywhere policy — genuine remote flexibility with no pay cuts
- Strong compensation and benefits with quarterly travel credits and educational stipends
- Limited career growth — senior roles often filled externally, promotions are slow
- Post-IPO cultural shift — increasing bureaucracy and internal politics at mid-to-senior levels
Scale AI
- Building critical AI data infrastructure used by OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government
- Strong compensation for engineers — competitive base + equity
- Work-life balance rated 2.7/5 — long hours common during client deadlines
- Culture and values scored 2.9/5 — inconsistent management quality
Bottom Line
Airbnb
Choose Airbnb if you want genuine remote flexibility and travel perks — but promotions are slow and bureaucracy is growing.
Scale AI
Choose Scale AI if you want to build data infrastructure for OpenAI and the US government — but expect long hours and inconsistent management.
Open Roles
Airbnb — 244 jobs
💻 Engineering
76
📊 Data
23
📋 Product
14
🎧 Support
14
🧠 ML / AI
12
⚖️ Legal
11
⚙️ Operations
11
📣 Marketing
10
💼 Sales / GTM
9
💰 Finance
3
👤 HR / People
3
🎨 Design
2
Scale AI — 175 jobs
💻 Engineering
64
🧠 ML / AI
25
📋 Product
16
💼 Sales / GTM
14
⚙️ Operations
7
⚖️ Legal
5
📣 Marketing
4
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
👤 HR / People
2
🎨 Design
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Airbnb scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.0 work-life balance rating. Scale AI scores 3.5/5.0 overall with a 2.7 WLB. That’s a 0.6-point gap on overall satisfaction.
On the hiring front, Airbnb has 244 open roles and Scale AI has 175 open roles.