Santander reveals job cuts

All told, Zillow’s job cuts total 94 from the beginning of the year in those two states alone, according to the WARN notices. Emily Merritt, manager of people operations for Zillow, explained to Colorado officials that the cuts were the result of the company’s failed Zillow Offers product targeting potential home sellers requesting a cash offer from Zillow to purchase their home.

Highly touted and expansion-driven, the business model failed to ignite with consumers. The company, on Feb. 10, released its fourth quarter and full-year financial results, reporting an $881 million loss in 2021 attributable to the algorithm-driven Zillow Offers business it shut down last fall to stem further losses. In shutting down that business, Zillow announced a 25% cut to its workforce that will be implemented incrementally over several quarters.

Texas-based Stearns Lending LLC alerted officials of plans to lay off 348 employees by the end of January in a move prompted by the closure of its wholesale channel after its acquisition by Guaranteed Rate, one of the nation’s largest retail mortgage lenders. In a January 05, 2021, Press release, the acquiring firm described Stearns as a “…national top 25 lender with more than $20 billion in origination volume in 2020. All told, the four companies – Zillow Offers, Interactive Mortgage, Stearns Lending and Santander – collectively have cut 546 jobs since the beginning of the year. And late last year, Better.com unceremoniously cut 900 jobs during an infamous Zoom conference. In addition, Home Point Capital laid off nearly 10% of its workforce.

Lenders in general are trying to find more work for their staff by lowering their standards a bit, Bloomberg reported. The credit rating for the average borrower whose loan is bundled into a mortgage bond backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac fell to 733 in January from 750 a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s still a prime level for the FICO scale that goes from 300 to 850.