AvantStay Cuts Nearly 10% of Workforce

06.12.2023 - 04:38 / skift.com / Srividya Kalyanaraman / Alex Chatzieleftheriou

AvantStay confirmed late Tuesday afternoon it cut 37 employees, or nearly 10% of its workforce. Responding to a Skift inquiry, the Los Angeles-based vacation rental property manager tied the layoffs to platform and tech improvements, adding that the company is profitable.

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“As part of our ongoing reorganization strategy to drive operational efficiency and reduce operational silos, we recently underwent a reorg that affected less than 10% of our workforce,” the company said in an emailed statement. “This is largely due to our fully proprietary platform and technology efficiencies that we’ve gained over the past six months.”

Several vacation rental property managers have faced a “new normal” in recent months in the face of an uncertain economy. AvantStay, Vacasa and Sonder have executed multiple layoff rounds over the last year, and Evolve recently downsized, as well.

Property Manager AvantStay Lays Off 10% of Staff, Third Round of Job Cuts in a Year

You read it here first: Well, at Skift’s Short-Term Rental Summit in NYC this month, Blueground co-founder and CEO Alex Chatzieleftheriou hinted at launching one-year stays at one of the company’s dozen cities in the United States. The company told Skift that the product will offer lower monthly rates, rent freeze features, and the flexibility to hop around between different cities in the country. 

“This is an ambitious product — we’re looking to change people’s mindsets and how they rent. Many people don’t know furnished rentals for longer term are an option. We are gathering feedback from guests before we officially launch later this year,” a Blueground spokesperson told Skift. 

Consider This: The Honolulu City Council agreed to give property tax relief to people who own second homes in Oahu and make money by renting out one of their homes. Resolution 33, adopted June 7 gives owners of second homes worth up to $1 million a tax savings of around $500, depending on their tax classification. This measure is intended to enable these property owners to keep renting out their properties without having to raise the rental prices.

If you rent a room on sites like Airbnb or Vrbo in Newport, Rhode Island, brace yourself for fee hikes. Lincoln County Commissioners discussed the county’s first increase to its short-term rental license fees since 2019. The proposed fee for a new short-term rental license would be $750, up from $350. The proposed fee for a renewal license is $500, up from $125. 

The travel and tourism industry has seen a significant 41 percent decrease in deal activity (mergers and acquisition, and venture deals) compared to last year, with the number of deals dropping from 475 in January-May 2022 to 282 in the first five months of 2023.