Welcome back. I’m Nina Trentmann, bureau chief of CFO Journal, writing in this week's newsletter about how Airbnb is navigating the reporting and tax implications of its “live and work from anywhere” policy.

San Francisco-based Airbnb at the end of April said it would allow its roughly 6,200 employees to work for up to three months a year from 170 of the countries and regions where it operates, starting in September.

The company hopes the work policy will help retain staff and keep a lid on costs. Oversight for the initiative rests with the company’s acting human resources chief, Dave Stephenson, who also is the chief financial officer.

“It is always important to have a good relationship with the CFO and the head of HR,” Mr. Stephenson said. “There are many efficiencies that come from me being the same person.”

As a company that benefited from the increase in remote work, Airbnb views the new work policy as “something that the workforce will want to have for the foreseeable future and that will drive travel,” said Dan Wasiolek, an analyst at the research arm of financial services firm Morningstar Inc.

Employees working remotely can face additional taxes, depending on how long they work in a different place and whether their home jurisdiction has specific rules regarding remote work. Airbnb will provide tax resources to educate and assist employees, Mr. Stephenson said. Doing so will likely result in some additional costs, but they will be minor and will likely be offset by higher retention rates, which could be worth “millions of dollars,” he said. He declined to comment on the company’s attrition rate.

Airbnb is creating a dedicated team that will work with employees to navigate the payroll and tax complications.

The company is separately lobbying governments around the world to try to make it easier for travelers to work remotely for extended periods. Around 20 countries, including Costa Rica, Spain, Portugal and Mexico, offer so-called digital nomad visas that let foreigners work remotely for extended periods.

The travel platform initially suffered during the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, laying off roughly 25% of its workforce in May 2020. Since then, the company has been hiring, but not at the same pace as before the pandemic, Mr. Stephenson said. The company increased its headcount by 9.6% from December 2020 to December 2021, and expects to expand it by about 9% by the end of this year. Airbnb doesn't expect the current economic slowdown to affect its pace of hiring.

Back in 2020, Airbnb also closed 12 offices and took restructuring charges of $35.8 million related to lease impairments, plus $11.8 million tied to amending and terminating contracts. It currently has 28 offices, a number that could change depending on how frequently employees use them, Mr. Stephenson said. Airbnb doesn’t offer a seat in an office for all its employees.

As of April, 38% of office workers have returned to the office on an average weekday, according to the latest survey conducted by the Partnership for New York City. 

More could be back after Labor Day. Forty-nine percent of workers are expected in the office on an average weekday in September 2022.

While 91% of employers are asking workers to return to the office, two-thirds of them are offering a hybrid office model as their predominant postpandemic workplace policy.

Employers say they are committed to New York City offices, with 58% saying they expect their office employee headcount there to increase or stay the same over the next five years. Among those who may reduce their New York presence, high costs, taxes and public safety rank among the biggest factors.

Read the full report.

Companies have embraced Slack to speed up office communication. Now, workers are using the messaging tool to fast-track job hunts.

Slack enables teams, and entire workforces, to trade information instantly—one reason its use has soared with the rise of remote work. Slack also hosts independent channels for people who don’t work together, and in the past two years, Slack-based networking groups have grown, providing a way for far-flung members to swap career advice and tips.

Many job seekers say they are turning to these invite-only networking forums to land new roles—often much faster than they would have through traditional job-application methods.

• The Workplace Isn't Designed for Gen-Z. Here's What Needs to Change (Inc.) 
     
• Is Workplace Loyalty Gone for Good? (Knowledge at Wharton)
   
• Using Emojis to Connect With Your Team (Harvard Business Review)
   
• Looking for a $100,000 Salary? See How Much the Biggest U.S. Companies Pay Workers (WSJ)
   
• Expatriate Executives Flee Saudi Arabia’s Bad Bosses (WSJ)

📅 June 9. Washington's Silenced No More Act goes into effect. The law prevents employers from using nondisclosure agreements as a way to bar workers from talking about harassment, discrimination and any other workplace violations.

Chitra Vemuri curated and edited this newsletter.

✍️ Feedback? We would love to hear from you, so please get in touch. And be sure to visit us at The Workplace Report.