People Roundup: Redfin, McMakler, Alma Media, Tsukuruba, Purplebricks

This week's people roundup starts in a sombre mood after Redfin announced a major round of layoffs driven by a new partnership with Zillow...

United States: 450 layoffs at Redfin as Zillow partnership announced

Redfin has announced it will cut 450 members of staff on the same day as it agreed a $100 million rentals deal with friend-cum-rival Zillow.

Redfin will shed 450 employees within its rentals division as part of its deal with Zillow on its rental listings, the company said in a filing that also included partnership details—syndicating Zillow’s multifamily rental listings to Redfin and its sites, Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com.

An SEC filing submitted by Redfin states:

This restructuring primarily consists of eliminating certain employee roles within, or that support, our rentals segment between February and July, 2025. We expect this restructuring will impact approximately 450 rentals employees.

The news comes barely a month after Redfin made 46 employees redundant across its management, field leadership and program roles.

Europe: More layoffs at struggling McMakler

Berlin-based agent/broker hybrid McMakler has enacted its fifth round of layoffs since 2022, with the business confirming a "low double-digit" number of employees have been made redundant for operational reasons.

However, McMakler also said it continues to hire brokers around Germany, focusing on revenue-generating roles.

McMakler lost its CEO last year when Felix Jahn resigned amid continued struggles for the business, which halved its valuation from €800M to €400M as part of a funding round in 2023, just 18 months after raising €50m from a venture round in January 2022. The company also lost its COO, CRO and Chief Legal Officer during the same period.

McMakler raised a further "double-digit million" funding round led by existing investors Baillie Gifford and Israel Growth Partners in October 2024.

Alma Media appoints new head of real estate

Alma Media has appointed Tuomo Räsänen as VP of Real Estate for its Alma Marketplaces business segment.

Räsänen will lead Alma Marketplaces’ real estate business unit, which encompasses a comprehensive portfolio of housing and property services. The business manages real estate vertical Etuovi and rentals site Vuokraoviin in Finland, among others.

Räsänen joins Alma Media from the position of CEO of Bo Family Group. He has previously served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Avaus Marketing Innovations, CEO of M-Brain and in various management positions in Sanoma's Learning and Business Information businesses.

Commenting on his appointment, Räsänen said:

"The housing market is clearly picking up. At the same time, artificial intelligence and digitalization, among other things, offer hugely interesting opportunities to further improve the customer experience for both consumers and professionals. That is why it feels very inspiring to join the Alma team at this interesting stage, where the active development of these issues is at the center. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Alma's housing professionals as a customer for several years and I am impressed by the team and its expertise."

Alma Media is a publicly listed company. In its Q3 2024 results released in October, the Group's real estate segment achieved revenue growth of 10.7% YoY, up to €9.6 million for the quarter.

Asia: Tsukuruba promotes CRO from within

Japan-based Tsukuruba, which owns Cowcamo, has promoted Shuntaro Nomura from within to become the company's first chief revenue officer (CRO).

A Tsukuruba company statement said Nomura was appointed after delivering significantly increased gross profitability at Tsukuruba:

Leveraging [his] experiencesNomura will be in charge of the sales department that supports the sale and purchase of properties across the board, leading to the creation of a customer-oriented organizational structure and maximization of inter-departmental synergy." [translated from Japanese]

Cowcamo offers online and offline services for home buyers and sellers.

United Kingdom: Purplebricks appoints interim CEO

Purplebricks has appointed Stuart Bartlett as interim CEO, replacing Sam Mitchell who is currently on gardening leave ahead of his eventual departure.

Bartlett is an existing investor in Strike, the business that bought Purplebricks for £1 after a protracted fall from grace.

Meanwhile, Strike’s executive chairman, Andrew Harrison, has made additional senior appointments, including a national sales director and a new interim head of finance, though details are slim.

The majority of Bartlett's previous professional experience appears to be in the automotive industry, while according to his words he has built and sold three companies in his career.