Opendoor Lays Off More Staff as iBuyer Changes Course

Opendoor continues to shut the door on employees with another round of layoffs as the direction of the company grows uncertain.

The iBuying company laid off 40 employees last week as it restructures its sales department, Inman reported. The reductions are part of a shift towards a “multi-product, multi-channel” business, according to an internal email.

Another 70 employees were shifted to different roles as part of the restructuring, aimed at bringing “sales, marketing and industry channels into tighter alignment,” a company spokesperson told the outlet.

Opendoor is one of the last traditional iBuyers left standing after both Zillow and Redfin shut down their operations in the past several years, but the business model of buying homes, renovating them and selling them at profit has little to show for success in terms of results.

Since going public, the company has lost nearly $2.8 billion over an 18-quarter period. It’s only turned a profit twice in that span since going public towards the end of 2020. Cash and cash equivalents are down 76 percent from a peak in early 2022.

In the third quarter of 2022, the company reported a loss of nearly $1 billion and co-founder and CEO Eric Wu, in 2022

Layoffs have become commonplace. Two years ago, it laid off 560 people, or 22 percent of its workforce at the time. Another 300 were let go at one point last year. And in the first quarter of this year, another 65 people were shown the door.

Opendoor’s future on the stock market is also under threat. Last week, the company announced plans for a reverse stock split as delisting from the Nasdaq exchange looms large. The company’s stock price has been trading under $1 since mid-April.

It opened Monday morning at $0.58 per share.

Trying to adjust to the times, the company is moving towards alternate sources of revenue, such as an agent referral program and other “asset-light” strategies.

— Holden Walter-Warner