Digital real estate giant Zillow has announced plans to lay off just over 500 employees as part of a broader organisational restructuring aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency.
Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman announced the job cuts on Tuesday, saying the company needed to adjust its cost structure and reorganise its workforce to support its next phase of growth.
The layoffs come as Zillow continues to develop an integrated platform connecting homebuyers, sellers, renters, real estate agents and mortgage services.
Wacksman said the restructuring would help the company operate more efficiently while concentrating resources on its most important business priorities.
The latest cuts represent Zillow’s second significant workforce reduction this year. The company eliminated around 200 positions in January as part of its annual performance-review process.
The earlier cuts were described as performance-related, while the latest layoffs are part of a broader organisational and cost-management strategy.
The timing of the announcement is significant, as Zillow is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial results on Wednesday.
Zillow reported total revenue of $708 million for the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 18 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.
The company also recorded a net income of $46 million, compared with $8 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
However, traffic across Zillow’s platforms declined during the quarter. Average monthly unique users fell by 3 per cent to 220 million, while total visits also dropped by 3 per cent to 2.3 billion.
Despite a largely stagnant US housing market, Zillow has continued investing in rentals, mortgages, agent services and tools designed to provide customers with a more connected property-search experience.
Wacksman said the company was restructuring to become more disciplined in managing costs while remaining focused on long-term growth.
The latest layoffs will affect just over 500 employees, though Zillow has not publicly disclosed which departments or locations will bear the largest impact. Reports indicated that the cuts account for around 7 per cent of the company’s workforce.
Zillow is also facing intense competition across the digital real estate market as companies battle to attract homebuyers, sellers and real estate professionals.
The upcoming earnings report is expected to provide further details about Zillow’s financial performance, housing-market outlook and plans following the restructuring.
