Opendoor cuts 300 jobs

Opendoor, the San Francisco startup that redefined how homes are bought and sold online, announced this week that it will lay off 300 employees, or about 17% of its workforce.  

The cuts, revealed in a letter to shareholders accompanying the company’s latest quarterly earnings report Thursday, are part of a larger restructuring directed at “prioritizing strategic growth initiatives, flattening reporting structures, and driving efficiencies,” according to CEO Carrie Wheeler.

This round of layoffs is the latest in a series of workforce reductions for the company, which previously cut 550 jobs in November 2022 and 550 more in June 2023.

Despite these efforts, Opendoor continues to struggle with profitability. For the first nine months of 2024, the company reported a $78 million loss.

 

Avaya to layoff 180 employees

Avaya has kickstarted its second round of layoffs in just four months.

 

The layoffs are reportedly much greater than those announced in July when the company let go of 180 employees. or approx. three percent of its workforce.

Freshworks to lay off 660

Freshworks lays off 660 — about 13 percent of its global workforce — despite strong earnings, profits

Despite reporting glowing revenue and profits for its fourth quarter, midmarket customer service, IT, and CRM vendor Freshworks said it was laying off 660 employees — about 13 percent of its employees worldwide. The company said the layoffs were part of “realigning our global workforce.”

The layoff announcement sounded unusual in that it was mentioned within an otherwise glowing financial report. CEO Dennis Woodside said in an analyst call to discuss the earnings that Freshworks “ended the quarter with more than 69,600 total customers with a net add of more than 800 customers.”

Freshworks CFO Tyler Sloat even touted a stock buyback program, to illustrate the company’s strong financials: “Given our strong financial position and improving cash profile, we have the opportunity to expand our capital allocation strategy. As such, our board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $400 million. This inaugural buyback program not only underscores the confidence we have in the durable and profitable growth of our business, but also reinforces our commitment to delivering long-term shareholder returns.”
 

Stellantis to lay off 400 workers at Detroit parts facility

(CBS DETROIT) - Stellantis will indefinitely lay off 400 workers at its Freud Street material logistics facility in Detroit, the automaker confirmed Friday. 

 

Stellantis, which owns brands like Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram, says the job cuts will be effective as early as Jan. 5, 2025.
 

 

 

 

Nissan to cut 9K jobs, reduce CEO's monthly pay by 50%

Nissan has announced it will cut 9,000 jobs from its global workforce as part of “urgent measures” to stem losses.

• Production capacity at Japanese carmaker will be reduced by 20% and sales budgets cut

• CEO Makoto Uchida offered to immediately begin forfeiting half of his monthly compensation

Nissan Motor Company announced it will be "taking urgent measures" to turnaround its business model after results from the first half of Fiscal Year 2024 showed decreased consolidated net revenue and global sales volumes, and an operating profit margin of 0.5%.

In a news release early Thursday morning, the company said it is "facing a severe situation" and laid out a plan to achieve "healthy growth," which includes reducing fixed costs by 300 billion yen (more than $1.9 billion) and variable costs by 100 billion yen ($649 million) while maintaining a healthy free cash flow.

In order to achieve this goal, Nissan said it will cut global production capacity by 20% and its global workforce by 9,000.

Stellantis to lay off 1,100 workers at Ohio Jeep plant

Stellantis said on Wednesday it is laying off about 1,100 employees at a Jeep Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio, as it works to improve efficiency and reduce inventory across its North American operations.

 

Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram, issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices to the respective state and local governments as well as the United Auto Workers union.

The 1,100 layoffs at the Toledo South Assembly Plant will be effective as early as Jan. 5, 2025.

Stellanis said the company is in the midst of a "transitional year" and is focused on "realigning its U.S. operations to ensure a strong start to 2025."  

 

The 3.64-million-square-foot complex manufactures the Jeep Gladiator, Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Wrangler 4xe. Over more than a decade, the company has significantly invested in the plant to increase production, including a $1.2 billion investment in Toledo's North plant since 2011. In 2017, the company confirmed that it would invest another $1 billion to retool and modernize Toledo's South plant.

These investments also involved hiring hundreds of workers and additional shifts to support the increased manufacturing.

The company noted in its third-quarter earnings report, after seeing a 27% decline in net revenues compared with the same period in 2023, that it was in the midst of North American inventory reductions and that U.S. dealer inventory level was "a focus priority."

The company reduced the U.S. dealer inventory level by more than 80,000 units between June and October. Its plan was to reduce inventory by 100,000 units by the end of November, the company said.

As established under the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, impacted employees will receive one year of supplemental unemployment benefits in combination with any eligible state unemployment benefits, equaling 74% of their pay.

Following that, the employees will get one year of transition assistance. Health care coverage will continue for two years.