Seattle’s Redfin Confirms Layoffs For 100s Of Employees

SEATTLE — A whole lot of Redfin workers will probably be out of a job after the Seattle-based actual property brokerage introduced layoffs for 8 % of its workforce Tuesday. In a letter despatched to employees and printed on-line, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman blamed a cooling housing market and declining demand.

“To all of the departing individuals who put your religion in Redfin, I am sorry we won’t maintain our dedication to you,” Kelman wrote. “With Might demand 17% beneath expectations, we do not have sufficient work for our brokers and assist employees, and fewer gross sales leaves us with much less cash for headquarters initiatives.”

In accordance with The Seattle Occasions, the cuts will affect 470 workers by the top of June, together with employees at Redfin-owned RentPath and Bay Fairness. Particulars on what number of of these layoffs impacted Seattle employees weren’t instantly obtainable.

“A layoff is all the time an terrible shock, particularly once I’ve stated that we might undergo heck to keep away from one, and that we raised a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} so we would not must shed individuals after just some months of uncertainty,” Kelman wrote. “However mortgage charges elevated quicker than at any level in historical past. We may very well be going through years, not months, of fewer house gross sales, and Redfin nonetheless plans to thrive.”

Different sections of Kelman’s layoff announcement define plans for enhancing income, by narrowing focus amongst fewer initiatives and smaller groups and taking “huge bets” to maximise its on-line instruments and web site visitors.

Kelman stated workers who’re laid off will obtain two to 4 months of severance and three further months of healthcare protection.

Learn the total announcement on Redfin’s web site.