AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT ZILLOW (10/28/22)

OCTOBER 28, 2022 — ANOTHER 300 EMPLOYEES WERE LAID LOW BY DECLINES IN THE HOUSING MARKET AND RISING INTEREST RATES

The company laid off 300 employees, primarily in teams related to advisors in Zillow Offer, sales and back-end staff at Zillow Home Loans and Zillow Closing Services, as well as other groups.

According to a company spokesperson, “As part of our normal business process, we continuously evaluate and responsibly manage our resources as we create digital solutions to make it easier for people to move. This week, we have made the difficult — but necessary — decision to eliminate a small number of roles and will shift those resources to key growth areas around our housing super-app.”

JUNE 29, 2022 — ZILLOW CONTINUES SHUTTERING OF HOUSE FLIPPING BUSINESS

Zillow Group Inc. will lay off 55 employees in Texas as continues its exit from the home-flipping business. The impacted employees were located throughout Texas but working out of the Coppell, Texas office.

The company began the layoffs with 33 employees in January 2022 and will continue with the remaining employees in phases lasting until August 2022.

NOVEMBER 26, 2021 — Original post

Seattle, Washington-based Zillow Group, a technology-driven online real estate marketplace company, has announced that it will be closing its home-flipping instant-buying division known as Zillow Offers and liquidating its real estate inventory.

The decision, driven by adverse market conditions, will affect 25% of the company's employees, estimated to result in approximately 1,600 employees in staged layoffs. The first group of 47 layoffs will commence on January 3, 2022.

According to Zillow CEO Rich Barton, "The decision to shutter Zillow Offers was 'tough but absolutely necessary as the company failed to accurately forecast the costs of buying and selling homes in a historically hot housing market. COO Jeremy Wacksman adds, "We're operating within labor- and supply-constrained economy inside a competitive real estate market, especially in the construction, renovation, and closing spaces. We have not been exempt from these market and capacity issues and we now have an operational backlog for renovations and closings. Pausing new contracts will enable us to focus on sellers already under contract with us and our current home inventory."

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?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT BEDROCK DETROIT

Detroit, Michigan-based Bedrock Detroit, a full service commercial real estate firm specializing in redevelopment projects, has announced a restructuring and cost-cutting effort that will impact approximately 60 employees.

According to a company spokesperson, “Bedrock announced a restructuring that will position the company for continued growth and improved service in 2021 and well beyond. As a result, approximately 60 positions have been affected by these changes."

Not everyone was pleased as some observed that the firm's owner, billionaire Dan Gilbert saw a massive increase in his wealth, from an estimated 6.5 billion to %42.7 billion. Much of it tax sheltered by tax incentives.

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

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT BROOKFIELD PROPERTIES

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?