Airbnb hires former White House press secretary Jay Carney from Amazon

Former White House press secretary Jay Carney is joining Airbnb to head policy and communications, following a seven-year stint at Amazon where he led the lobbying and media relations team.

Before moving to Amazon in 2015, Carney spent five-and-a-half years in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009-14, beginning as director of communications for then-vice president Joe Biden.

Carney will start at Airbnb in September and report directly to chief executive Brian Chesky, who said on Friday his new hire’s experience “at the highest levels of both government and technology”, made him the “perfect person” to lead policy and communications at the property rental company.

For Amazon, the move is the latest in a run of high-level departures from the ecommerce group in recent weeks, including the exit of Dave Clark, a 23-year veteran who led its consumer business.

Carney joined Amazon in the wake of the company having doubled its spending on lobbying the prior three years, as its scorching growth coincided with scrutiny over its culture and business conduct. He reported directly to then-chief executive Jeff Bezos.

During his tenure, Carney dealt with issues including a growing antitrust movement against Amazon, its controversial search for a second headquarters, and employees’ complaints over working conditions.

Workers at some facilities this year launched unions, moves that have been supported by Biden. In April the president gave a pro-union speech on the growing labour battle at Amazon, telling the company: “Here we come.”

Bezos stepped down as Amazon chief executive last year and was replaced by Andy Jassy, his longtime deputy. Jassy has since been battling issues including staff shortages and mounting operational costs.

News of Carney’s appointment came a day after Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia announced he would step down from his full-time operating role.

Before joining the White House, Carney was a journalist at Time magazine for two decades. In that time, he covered the collapse of the Soviet Union as Moscow correspondent before moving to Washington where he reported on the White House, Congress and then rose to become bureau chief.

Against a backdrop of interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve, Amazon’s share price is down by 27 per cent this year, compared with a 17 per cent drop in the S&P 500. Airbnb shares are down 38 per cent over the same period.