PropertyGuru Lays Off 174 People As New Chairman Outlines "Refined" Ambitions

PropertyGuru has announced that 174 employees will lose their jobs, representing more than 10% of its workforce.

In an open letter published on the Singapore-based portal operator's website, executive chairman Trevor Mather hit the reset button on PropertyGuru's strategy and announced the discontinuation of Sendhelper, Data & Software Solutions, and PropertyGuru Finance.

The company will also phase out its Corporate Development and Investor Relations as a result of PropertyGuru's privatisation after EQT's takeover of the business last year.

Other reorganisation will include changes for the company's Technology, Marketing, Finance, and People & Culture teams.

Affected staff members will receive one month's salary per year of service, a goodwill payment of an extra month's salary, and extra support including visa, relocation and well-being support.

Mather said:

"We must remain the undisputed Marketplaces leader in each of our core markets. We will do this by relentlessly focusing on: Enhancing the consumer and customer experience through innovation; Increasing the value we provide across our Marketplace businesses; [and ]Driving sustainable, long-term growth.

"To sharpen this focus, we will direct all our energy, resources, and talent towards our Marketplaces in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. As a result, initiatives outside of this core will be phased out or discontinued.

"We have made the difficult decision to discontinue Sendhelper, Data & Software Solutions, and PropertyGuru Finance. However, select capabilities from these businesses that enhance our Marketplaces will be retained.

"As we transition to a private company, we will phase out Corporate Development and Investor Relations, as these functions are no longer required.

"To accelerate the success of our core Marketplaces, we will reorganise teams across Technology, Marketing, Finance, and People & Culture to improve focus and efficiency. Our commitment to our Tech CoE in India remains unchanged.

"These decisions were not made lightly. They reflect our commitment to building a more focused, agile, and effective organisation. With Lewis [Ng] joining us as CEO in March, I’m confident we will be well-positioned to seize all opportunities.

"Regrettably, these changes will affect 174 Gurus, representing less than 12%of our team. This was a difficult decision, made after deep consideration of what’s necessary for our long-term growth and success.

"We are immensely grateful to every Guru affected by this change. Your contributions have shaped PropertyGuru’s journey, and we deeply appreciate all you have done."

Healthy revenue growth at PropertyGuru has historically been driven primarily by its clear market leadership in its native Singapore, where revenues have risen steadily quarter-on-quarter since 2023.

But the Group has struggled to scale in other segments and markets, and full-year revenue growth slowed considerably in 2023:

Now operating behind closed doors, PropertyGuru's future performance will be harder to judge on a segment-by-segment level. However, Mather's decision to retain all the company's marketplace operations for the time being indicates that PropertyGuru has a plan to improve performance across borders under its new ownership—for now at least.