Yesterday real estate startup OpenDoor ($PRIVATE:OPENDOOR) laid off 600 employees, which is roughly 35% of its entire workforce. The company has been around since 2014, and has raised billions in funding over the last few years, but has been struck with the most untimely of situations: a global pandemic and a looming recession.
“Though this was difficult news to deliver, our focus here at Opendoor remains the same. We continue to work passionately to simplify the customer experience, transform the entire category, and empower millions of homeowners with the freedom to move. COVID-19 has had an unforeseen impact on public health, the U.S. economy, and housing. Given the shelter-in-place guidelines, we’ve seen declines in the number of people buying, selling, and moving during this time of uncertainty.” - OpenDoor CEO Eric Wu
Wu will forgo his salary for this year, along with other top executives, and the company will pay out eight weeks along with 16 weeks of health insurance. SoftBank ($TYO:9984), which has a major investment in OpenDoor, should definitely keep an eye out considering there's no telling what will happen going forward with the housing market or the economy. But as for right now, the data looks grim for OpenDoor.
Just for some perspective, here is the trajectory of employees who have worked at OpenDoor according to LinkedIn. So far, we haven't seen the headcount reductions - but it's likely to soon show up.
The real stunner: since the start of 2020, job openings at OpenDoor have gone down a whopping 93%. Opendoor isn't the only property startup cutting job posts, though.
To add insult to injury, Facebook likes have been flat for months and barely any people are talking about the company right now. Last summer, there were thousands. Now, there are 20 people talking about OpenDoor. 20. That's it.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.