Portland-based vacation rental company Vacasa cuts 320 jobs

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Portland-based vacation rental company has added onto the slate of businesses cutting their workforce amid “organizational changes.”

On Wednesday, Vacasa laid off around 320 employees, or about 5% of its staff. Company officials said the job cuts affected 6% of corporate positions and 2% of their field operations team.

In 2023, the company laid off roughly 17% of its employees.

“We made remarkable progress this past year, however, to build a sustainable, profitable business that delivers value to all our stakeholders, we must be rigorous about where we invest, and we must build an efficient, right-sized organizational structure,” Vacasa told employees in a recent email. “This will, at times, require us to make organizational changes and difficult decisions.”

The company reported that it experienced a 19% decline in gross booking value and a 19% decline in revenue between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the same period in 2023.

With the first quarter of 2024 underway, Vacasa said this year is “off to a difficult start” as well.

According to the company, the industry has seen an increasing supply of short-term rental units just as the demand for non-urban rentals in the U.S. has slowed down.

“Today’s decisions were not taken lightly and I want to assure you that we took as much time, care and consideration in making them as possible,” Vacasa said of the latest round of layoffs. “I am very grateful for the contributions of everyone leaving the company today and how each individual helped shape Vacasa.”

Portland-based ad agency Wieden+Kennedy also announced layoffs on Wednesday, following Beaverton-founded athletic-wear giant Nike, Columbia Sportswear and a local UPS facility.

The ad agency said goodbye to more than 20% of its team of 440 workers, while Nike announced that 2% of its workforce — or 1,500 employees — had been laid off.

Columbia Sportswear slashed 3% to 5% of its corporate team made up of 8,325 employees, and Portland’s UPS facility laid off more than 300 workers ahead of an upcoming closure.