Redfin cut 201 workers for the third time since June. GeekWire reported the 4% employee layoffs.
In an email, a company spokeswoman told TechCrunch that the layoffs were mostly in “real estate support” and “due to the housing downturn and economic uncertainty.”
Redfin said impacted employees will get 10 to 15 weeks of severance, depending on tenure, and three months of healthcare coverage. Redfin has about 5,300 employees after the layoffs.
Redfin must adjust to the present economic context, the spokeswoman said. “The people leaving Redfin have been wonderful colleagues, and we’d welcome them back in a stronger housing market.” Real estate technology firms have suffered from mortgage rates above 6% this year and previous, which contributed to a nationwide housing crisis.
After May, demand fell 17%, and Redfin fired 470 employees in June. “We don’t have enough work for our agents and support staff, and fewer sales leaves us with less money for headquarters projects,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman.
In November, the firm laid off 13% of its workers, or 862 individuals, due to the housing market slowdown. In addition, Redfin recently closed its iBuying branch, RedfinNow.
“One problem is that the share gains we could attribute to iBuying have become less certain as we rolled it out more broadly, especially now that our offers are so low,” Kelman said in an email to workers. Second, buying requires a huge investment and risk of an uncertain return. We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars in residences you wouldn’t buy now.”
The company’s latest layoff is tiny but representative of prop-tech firms’ continued struggles. For example, Opendoor laid off 550 workers (18%) in November, and Zillow eliminated 300 employees in late October.
