Job Losses Following PropertyGuru/iProperty Deal

August’s acquisition by PropertyGuru Group of iProperty in Malaysia has resulted in “.. no more than 35” job losses.

PropertyGuru Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Hari V. Krishnan, in a note to staff this week, said that while the company has tried to provide meaningful roles elsewhere in the Group, but that it had not been able to do it for everyone. After careful consideration, he said that the decision was made that no more than 35 of our colleagues will leave the Group.

He explained how the two brands are near the completion of integration planning, and that the company has finalised its unified goals and go-to-market approach.

Krishnan said: “We have now reached the point at which we start implementing the team’s recommendations. The aim is to arrive at a set-up that is best at making home ownership more achievable for Malaysian property seekers and provides business efficiency to agent and developer partners.”

He also confirmed the company will maintain the two brands with combined functions to form one organisation in Malaysia.

“We fully recognise that this decision has a great impact on those who are directly affected. This decision is not a reflection of the contributions made by the Gurus who will be leaving us, but is the result of our new combined organisational structure and our strategic goals for our business in Malaysia.”

Departing staff will receive what the company described as enhanced severance packages, which includes retaining their office laptops to make it easier for them to find their next roles and to minimise disruption. The company will also help with job search support, and provide an outplacement service for three months with a personal consultant to support each member of staff. It will also create a database of impacted employees for easy sharing with potential future employers.

“We have seen this measure work very well for other companies in the region, and it even resulted in us hiring some of our Gurus from those databases,” he concluded.

Impacted staff have been notified.

The August deal saw PropertyGuru become the new owners of the former REA Group assets iProperty Malaysia and Brickz.my, as well as thinkofliving.com and prakard.com in Thailand. In return, the Australian portal company took an 18% interest in PropertyGuru Group.