Eating Its Own.
Part Three of Five — A Way of Life Series
An industry that teaches its people to treat every transaction as a contest will sooner or later point that instinct at its own payroll. That is my argument. What follows is the record it rests on, with a source beside every fact so you can check each line yourself.
Redfin: six rounds in under three years.
In June 2022 Redfin laid off 470 people (source: Fox 13 Seattle, 9 Nov 2022), about 8% of its employees (source: CNN Business via KVIA, 15 Jun 2022).
In November 2022 it cut 862 jobs, 13% of its workforce, and closed its iBuying arm, RedfinNow (source: HR Dive, 9 Nov 2022). A further 218 roles were eliminated, though those employees could choose to stay in another role (source: HR Dive, 9 Nov 2022). Departing staff received 10 to 15 weeks of severance depending on tenure, plus three months of healthcare cover (source: HR Dive, 9 Nov 2022).
CEO Glenn Kelman told staff, "A layoff is awful but we can't avoid it" (source: RealTrends, 9 Nov 2022). He expected the 2023 housing market to be 30% smaller than 2021 (source: RealTrends, 9 Nov 2022).
Redfin laid off 200 more people in April 2023 (source: HousingWire, Aug 2024). In August 2024 it cut 82, in a round that included its Concierge service, support staff and sales managers (sources: HousingWire, Jan 2025; HousingWire, Aug 2024).
In January 2025 it cut 46 more, mostly managers in headquarters, program and field leadership roles. A spokesperson said no agents were affected (source: Inman, 10 Jan 2025; HousingWire, Jan 2025).
In February 2025 it announced about 450 cuts in its rentals division, roughly 10% of its workforce (source: Scotsman Guide, Feb 2025). The filing landed the same day Zillow agreed to pay Redfin $100 million for rental listing syndication rights (source: Inman, 12 Feb 2025). HousingWire counted it as the sixth round of layoffs since June 2022 (source: HousingWire, Feb 2025).
Compass: same day, same instinct
On 14 June 2022 Compass announced a workforce reduction of about 450 positions, 10% of its employees (source: RealTrends, 14 Jun 2022). It paused hiring, expansion and acquisitions until the end of 2022 (source: CNN Business via KVIA, 15 Jun 2022) and shut Modus Technologies, the title and escrow business it bought in October 2020 (source: RealTrends, 14 Jun 2022). No agents were let go (source: Inman, 14 Jun 2022). Redfin announced its own cut less than an hour after the Compass news broke (source: Inman, 14 Jun 2022).
Purplebricks: from £1.3bn to £1
Purplebricks was once worth well over £1bn and was worth little more than £2m when Strike agreed to buy it (source: Property Industry Eye, 2023). Strike paid £1 (source: The Negotiator, 2023).
Months earlier, in December 2022, shareholder Lecram Holdings, which held 5.16% of the company, had said the business was burning £2m of cash a month and that its leadership seemed to hold an overly optimistic view of prospects (source: Estate Agent Today, Dec 2022). Its statement said:
"Shareholders can't afford to wait any longer while this business runs out of money" - Lecram Holdings, Dec 2022 · Estate Agent Today
When the sale was announced, Purplebricks said Strike intended to open a redundancy consultation likely to involve all of the company's employees, around 750 people (source: Yorkshire Post, May 2023). By August 2023 a consultation was under way (source: Estate Agent Today, Aug 2023). Sky News reported that 100 to 120 jobs, about 15% of a 695-strong workforce, were expected to go (source: Property Industry Eye, 2023). Purplebricks said it had also proposed a significant number of new roles (source: Estate Agent Today, Aug 2023).
Knight Frank and LSL
In October 2023 Knight Frank began a consultation that put up to 3% of its UK roles at risk (source: CoStar, 17 Oct 2023). It had 2,985 UK staff (source: CoStar, 17 Oct 2023), so the trade press put the figure at roughly 90 to 100 people (source: Property Industry Eye, Oct 2023). In the same period the firm expected its revenue to rise to £670m from £665m a year earlier (source: CoStar, 17 Oct 2023).
LSL Property Services, owner of Your Move and Reeds Rains, announced in February 2019 that it would cut its branches from 404 to 280 (source: Guernsey Press, 5 Feb 2019). LSL later said 900 jobs were affected, 460 people had to leave, and about 440 found new positions (source: Estate Agent Today, Feb 2020). In May 2023 it moved its remaining 183 owned branches to franchises and said around 30 redundancies were likely (source: Estate Agent Today, May 2023).
What the record does and doesn't show.
These were not all cuts made from comfort. Redfin projected that RedfinNow would lose $22 to $26 million in 2022 before overhead (source: RealTrends, 9 Nov 2022). Compass lost $494 million in 2021 (source: RealTrends, 14 Jun 2022). Nor were agents always spared: Redfin said its headcount reduction since April 2022 included a 28% fall in lead agents (source: National Mortgage Professional, 9 Nov 2022).
