Zillow makes more 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.

“This action is due to the elimination of the Zillow Offers business,” Merritt wrote to Florida and Colorado officials. Appropriate advance notice of the job elimination has been or will be provided to impacted employees. Layoffs at these job sites(s) are expected to commence on Jan 03, 2022, and will wind down over the course of 2022.”

The people operations manager noted the affected workers lacked union representation and had no bumping rights. The latter term refers to the contractual rights of an employee whose position has been made redundant to replace another worker in the position.