Vacasa lays off 1,300 to cut costs

Vacation rental management company Vacasa, which became a public company little more than a year ago, announced Tuesday after markets closed that it has laid off 1,300 employees, or about 17% of its workforce.

In a note to employees that was filed with the SEC, CEO Rob Greyber says, “When I joined Vacasa in September, some opportunities for improvement were immediately clear. As a result, we made rapid changes in how we organize, how we work and where we put our focus, investment and resources. Now, having taken more time through our annual planning process, it is clear to me that Vacasa has more work to do. As part of this, we need to reduce our costs and continue to focus on becoming a profitable company.”

Greyber’s note does not specify the types of jobs being eliminated, but he says, “We have crafted our choices to maintain the strong service levels our owners and guests have come to expect from Vacasa. … I am optimistic about Vacasa’s potential. Because of that, I am equally focused on improving and accelerating our pace of execution across the company."

In the third quarter of 2022, the company’s most recent financial filing, Vacasa reported revenue of  $412 million, up 25% year-over-year but far below the 77% growth it experienced in Q3 2021 compared to 2020.

Vacasa’s stock debuted at $10.99 per share on December 7, 2021 and closed today at $1.67. The company says it has 35,000 homes on its platform in 35 states plus Canada, Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica.