Zillow layoff details show severance terms and senior roles cut
It has been over a week since Zillow laid off over 500 employees, representing roughly 7% of its staff, in what the company has called an “organizational restructuring” effort, and the posts of impacted employees keep coming on LinkedIn, reflecting the volume of people impacted.
In an email sent to impacted employees from Zillow Group’s Human Resources Department obtained and verified by HousingWire, the listing portal giant noted that the layoffs were “company-wide,” with the restructuring effort focused on helping the firm “operate more efficiently and support the investments” it is making in the business.
In the email, Zillow thanked the terminated employees for their work.
“The work you’ve done here has mattered, and we appreciate the important role you have played in Zillow’s journey.”
Impacted employees were immediately placed on “administrative leave with pay (base pay plus, if applicable, target incentive pay) and benefits,” through a set termination date outlined in the email they received. The email noted, however, that Zillow received the right to recall impacted employees back to work during their administrative leave periods.
The email also outlined the severance packages, noting that if employees resign before their termination date, their severance offer will increase. The basic severance package, according to the email included three weeks of weekly base pay, plus two additional weeks of weekly base pay for every full year of service you have completed with the Company through the effective date of your separation up to a maximum of 21 weeks. Additionally, employees that are primary insurance benefits subscribers are set to receive a lump sum payment equivalent to the cost of six months of COBRA coverage at 2026 rates for themselves and any eligible dependents.”
In a FAQ sent to employees about the layoffs, also obtained and verified by HousingWire, Zillow said employees chosen for termination were selected based on things like “position elimination and/or [their] work performance.”
According to a Washington State WARN schedule of affected jobs chart shared with and verified by HousingWire, impacted roles included things like business intelligence manager, director of engineering, director of legal, compliance operations and strategy, legal operations program manager, principal content, program and product designers, senior managers of machine learning engineering, research science and software development engineering and senior program managers and software development engineers.
In total, 91 Washington state-based employees were impacted by the layoffs. Of these, six held director-level roles, five held program manager roles, five held principal-level roles, five held managerial positions and 49 held senior-level positions across a variety of departments.
In addition to the scale of the layoffs, sources have confirmed to HousingWire that at least two impacted employees were on maternity leave during their terminations. In a post on LinkedIn, one woman on maternity leave impacted by the layoffs who held the role of “senior program manager, product operations,” according to her profile, described her termination as “deeply impersonal and profoundly jarring,” noting that she is in the second month of what was supposed to be five months of maternity leave.
“After surviving three previous rounds of layoffs this year, I was completely caught off guard,” she wrote. “Being laid off while on maternity leave—during a period intended to be protected and focused on caring for a new baby—feels deeply unfair. Instead of being fully present with my children and enjoying this brief chapter of their lives, I’m now navigating uncertainty about how I will provide for my family and what comes next.”
She went on to describe the timing and circumstances of the layoff as “disheartening,” however she said she was grateful for her time at Zillow.
When asked about the elimination of so many senior roles, as well as the termination of at least two women on maternity leave, a spokesperson for Zillow told HousingWire that the company had no additional comments beyond the blog post it originally shared after news of the layoffs broke. In the post, CEO Jeremy Wacksman described the decision to lay off so many employees as “difficult,” adding that the choice reflects “both the strides [Zillow is] making in [its] strategy and the reality of what is required of [Zillow] to grow at scale.”
During the second quarter of 2026, Zillow generated $772 million in revenue, up 18% year-over-year. The company’s for-sale segment generated $549 million in revenue, up 14% annually, while its residential segment was up 7% to $465 million, its mortgage revenue rose 75% to $84 million and its rentals segment recorded a 31% yearly increase in revenue to $209 million.
Despite these increases, the company reported a net loss of $4 million for the quarter, down from a net income of $2 million a year ago. However, for the six months ending June 30, 2026, Zillow has recorded $42 million in net income, compared to $10 million a year ago.
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