Vacasa Told Employees About Layoffs, Restructuring and Leadership Changes

09.05.2024 - 15:33 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Rob Greyber

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.