Opendoor layoffs 2025: Cofounder of Opendoor Technologies, Keith Rabois, who is now the newly appointed chairman, discussed about the state of the company this week, along with hinting at potential layoffs.
Keith Rabois Returns as Opendoor Chairman, Signals Workforce Reduction
During an interview on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ on Friday, Rabois described Opendoor as “completely bloated,” suggesting the company could operate with just a fraction of its current workforce, as per a report.
Rabois, whose return to the company’s board of directors was revealed on Thursday, shared several changes that are needed at Opendoor during his CNBC interview.
He said, “There’s 1,400 employees at Opendoor. I don’t know what most of them do. We don’t need more than 200 of them,” and added that, “the company is completely bloated,” as quoted by Business Insider.
Opendoor’s Stock Surges 470% Amid Leadership Changes
Opendoor is a firm that buys and sells homes and is currently making waves as the latest meme stock beloved by retail traders, as reported by Business Insider.
The stock also got another boost on Thursday when the firm said that cofounders Rabois and Eric Wu were rejoining Opendoor’s board and also said that Kaz Nejatian, COO of Shopify, was appointed as Opendoor’s CEO, as per the report. Opendoor’s stock has incrased 470% year-to-date, as of Friday’s market close, according to Business Insider.
Keith Rabois Criticises Remote Work Culture at Opendoor
Rabois, who is also the managing director at the VC firm Khosla Ventures, said during the interview that Opendoor’s culture was “broken,” as he criticised the company’s remote work and also the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, as per the report.
He said, “These people were working remotely. That doesn’t work,” and added that the company also went down a “DEI path,” as quoted by Business Insider.
Rabois emphasised that, “We’re going to fix all that. We’re back to merit and excellence,” as quoted in the report.
Tech Industry Trend: Layoffs, Rolling Back DEI and Return-to-Office Policies
His remarks come amid the larger trend of tech leaders lamenting remote work and rolling out return-to-office mandates, which business leaders have also pointed out as a way to reduce headcounts without layoffs, as reported by Business Insider.
This comes after many leading tech companies have also rolled back DEI efforts, including Amazon, Google, and Meta, according to the report.