Airbnb donates $500,000 to Black Lives Matter and NAACP after laying off 1,900 employees

Airbnb is donating $500,000 to Black Lives Matter and the NAACP after it recently cut 1,900 jobs, reducing its workforce by about 25 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We stand with #BlackLivesMatter," the company tweeted Monday night. "We are donating a total of $500,000 to the @NAACP and the @Blklivesmatter Foundation in support of their fight for equality and justice. And we'll be matching employee donations to both groups. Because a world where we all belong takes all of us."

The donation comes after Airbnb announced in early May that it was laying off 1,900 workers, amid the economic slowdown created by the pandemic. 

Black Lives Matter is urging its supporters to promote its #DefundThePolice initiative on social media in response to the death of George Floyd after Minneapolis police arrested him last week.