New York, New York-based Brookfield Properties, the commercial real estate management company with extensive investments in shopping malls, has announced that it executing a major reduction in force that will impact 20% of its 2,000-person workforce, including corporate personnel and in-field leasing agents.
According to a company spokesperson...
"2020 has had a profound impact on us all, both personally and professionally. Our business has been frustrated, interrupted and constrained. All our constituents - retailers, lenders, communities, partners, investors, consumers, vendors, shareholders and our own employees – have been affected by the events of this year and forced to revisit their relationships with our industry and our company. While we are amid challenging times, we remain confident in the strength of our high-quality portfolio, steadfast in our positive long-term view of our industry and determined in our ability to execute our business plan."
"For many years we have stated both publicly and privately our plan to reduce the size and further improve the quality of our portfolio by opportunistically disposing of assets we determine do not meet the long-term investment strategy for our core portfolio. Our experience of the past six months informs us that the opportunity to act on this plan has been accelerated and the time is now."
"While many companies were quick to implement furloughs and layoffs at the onset of the pandemic, we made the conscious decision to keep all our team employed while we gained a better understanding of its longer-term impact on our company. After thoughtful consideration, we have reached the heavy decision to reduce the size of our workforce to align with the future scale of our portfolio. This reduction-in-force will affect approximately 20 percent of our employees, both in the field and in our corporate offices."
"We pride ourselves on a culture built on transparency and togetherness, and we believe the right thing to do is to be up front about this decision. Beginning this morning and continuing through tomorrow, employees included in the reduction-in-force will be contacted directly by leaders from their department and Human Resources team members to discuss the process of separation and answer questions."
"We hold all our team members in the highest regard. Therefore, we are providing full severance in amounts consistent with the company's policy, accelerating the vesting of pre-merger equity grants and supplying transition support including career workshops and one-on-one coaching for all impacted team members."
"This business decision does not in any way detract from what each of the affected employees have contributed to our company. As future opportunities for employment become available, we will endeavor to reach out to former employees first to offer positions and welcome them back to our team."
“We wish every impacted team member only the best success in their future career pursuits."
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?