Vacasa Laid Off 13% of Its Workforce

Vacasa announced that it laid off 800 employees, or 13% of it workforce, as it restructured the company.

The layoffs included 40% of its corporate and central operations staff, and 6% of its employees in the field.

“These changes will implement a reorganization of the Company’s operations, to further equip its field teams to locally manage, and be accountable for, their markets, while significantly reducing the Company’s central corporate footprint,” the property management company said in a financial filing Thursday after the market closed.

In a shareholder letter about first quarter results, Vacasa said it would reorganize local teams to run operations. The company plans to localize sales and marketing, as well as revenue management and onboarding.

Vacasa said the restructuring would cost it $8 million to $9 million, including for severance and benefits payments.

At the same time, Vacasa stated that it drew down $81 million on a revolving credit facility.

In the first quarter Vacasa notched a net loss of $141 million, which included an $84 million impairment charge. Revenue fell 18% year over year to $209 million.

Vacasa said it is experiencing elevated homeowner churn and weakness in nights sold per home approaching the summer travel season. The property manager said it does not expect to reach adjusted EBITDA profitability in 2024.

Earlier Thursday Vacasa Informed Employees About the Restructuring

The CEO of property management company Vacasa wrote to employees today that there would be a “significant restructuring of the company” and layoffs because the vacation rental market is “in for another difficult year.”

In an employee letter from CEO Rob Greyber obtained by Skift, some employees were summoned to a Town Hall “to learn more about where we are headed, our new structure and some additional news regarding leadership changes.”

Among the executives being replaced is T.J. Clark, Vacasa’s chief commercial officer, according to two sources.

This is Vacasa’s fourth round of layoffs since Greyber became CEO in September 2022. The letter didn’t say how many employees would be laid off but said the company “will be parting ways with a lot of talented and hard-working people.”

“The industry continues to adjust to softening demand for domestic, non-urban vacation rentals, as well as increases in the supply of short term rental units,” Greyber wrote in the employee letter. “We believed the headwinds we were experiencing were beginning to ease, and kept a close eye on our targets. As the year has progressed, it has become increasingly apparent this is unlikely to be the case and we are in for another difficult year.”

He wrote that Vacasa would therefore accelerate the restructuring of the business that began last year “to fully enable and empower our local market teams to drive the business,” adding that the company is prioritizing resources.

The reference to local market teams means that Vacasa’s salespeople would be in charge of onboarding new customers, as opposed to an earlier strategy that emphasized acquisitions over organic growth.

Vacasa has mentioned over the last year that homeowner “churn,” or owners dropping off the platform, was a significant issue for the company. 

Vacasa didn’t respond to requests for comment about this story.

Vacasa is slated to report its first quarter earnings after market close Thursday.