People Roundup: Opendoor, Spotahome and Adevinta Spain

This week's People Roundup starts with a bombshell out of the United States, where one business could see its workforce virtually decimated in the coming months...

United States: Opendoor co-founder suggests iBuyer could decrease workforce by 85%

Opendoor's Chairman and co-founder, Keith Rabois, has suggested the "bloated" iBuyer Opendoor could slash its headcount imminently.

Rabois told CNBC, "I don't know what most of them do," referring to Opendoor's workforce of 1,400 people. "We don't need more than 200 of them."

Rabois recently rejoined Opendoor's board of directors alongside co-founder Eric Wu, who left the company as CEO in December 2023.

The newly formed board coincides with the departure of Carrie Wheeler as CEO, recently replaced by Kaz Nejatian.

Rabois said:

"I haven't yet dug into the financials. I won't opine about the future, financial future, etcetera. I know the strategy; I have a high-level view of the strategy of things that can be improved. But there's no way you need 1,400 employees."

Europe: Spotahome CPTO departs for edutech firm

Jorge Alonso has left Spain-based mid-term rental platform Spotahome after almost seven years to join edtech company Odilo, according to local publication Murcia Economía.

Alonso joined Spotahome in 2018 as senior software engineering manager, rising through a series of roles before becoming CPTO in January 2023. Earlier in his career, he held engineering leadership positions at Amazon and streaming service Starz. He holds a master’s in engineering, majoring in telematics, from Madrid Polytechnic University, and also co-founded Madrid dance studio Eszena Danza.

Speaking on LinkedIn, Alonso said:

“June was my last month as CTPO in Spotahome. Almost seven years of an incredible ride ended. I leave behind an incredibly talented team of whom I’m as proud as I could be, and I believe under the leadership of Isabel González Lamas and Daniel Molina Aranda, you will continue to achieve awesome things."

He also thanked Spotahome co-founder and CEO Alejandro Artacho for giving him the opportunity, saying the experience was “so much fun” and had provided “amazing career development.”

Spotahome is one of several portals focusing on Spain’s growing mid-term rental segment.

Adevinta Spain Head Departs

According to the AIM Group (subscription required), Roman Campa stepped down as CEO and EVP of Adevinta Spain back in May.

The former McKinsey man had been with Adevinta since 2016, working initially as finance, growth and strategy director before moving on to run the company's InfoJobs employment before being promoted to the top job in July 2021.

Campa's departure came two months before Adevinta announced that it had agreed a deal to sell its Spanish assets, including Fotocasa, Habitaclia, Coches.net, InfoJobs and Milanuncios to the Swedish private equity firm EQT.