Another real estate brand is handing out walking papers amid the market cooldown. This time, Homeward finds itself in the layoff spotlight with news that it laid off 20 percent of its team this week.
According to a company announcement first shared by Inman, the Austin-based company notified employees some 120 staff were being let go this week as ongoing decline in demand for homes impacts Homeward’s bottom line. The layoffs were not specific to any region and affected multiple departments.
The company, which is known for its “buy with cash” program, reportedly delayed making layoffs until the cost-cutting needs became too great.
“When we talked with you at the All-Hands [meeting] in June, we believed our cash runway was sufficient to bridge this period of lower activity,” founder and CEO Tim Heyl wrote in an internal e-mail. “We reduced our non-people costs and planned our spend to hedge against further decline. However, the continuing acceleration and severity of the market shift has forced us to consider deeper changes to our business.”
Laid-off employees will receive severance pay and Homeward execs said the company would waive most of the noncompete clauses of affected employees.