Vacasa lays off 5%, COO Banczak leaving as company acknowledges challenges ahead

Vacasa is
laying off 5% of its workforce – about 320 people – and chief operating officer
John Banczak will leave his position March 31 as the vacation rental management
company said it is still facing substantial challenges, such as a drop in
bookings for the third straight quarter in Q4 of 2023 and a 5% drop year over year
in inventory.

In an email to
employees regarding the layoffs, CEO Rob Greyber wrote, “Our focus was
primarily on eliminating layers of management and optimizing spans of control,
while striving to minimize impact to our front-line field employees to ensure
continuity of service and care to our owners and the guests we welcome.” The layoffs
represent about 2% of the company’s local operations teams and 6% of its
central team.

Banczak has
been with Vacasa since March
2021 when it acquired the company he co-founded and where he had been CEO, TurnKey
Vacation Rentals. In the email to staff, Greyber wrote, “I want to thank
him for building a strong, resilient leadership team across Vacasa’s operations
organization. We have begun a search for a new COO, and following March 31, JB [Banczak]
will consult with us for the next six months to ensure a seamless transition.”

Vacasa reported
gross booking value and revenue both down 19% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared
with the same quarter of 2022, driven by a 15% year-over-year decrease in gross
booking value per night sold and a 5% decrease in nights sold.

Gross booking
value came in at $337 million and revenue in the quarter was $177 million. Adjusted
EBITDA in the quarter was negative $55 million, compared with negative $49
million in the same period last year.

But for the
full year 2023, adjusted EBITDA was $24 million, compared with negative $27
million in 2022, and revenue was $1.1 billion, down 6% year over year. 

Gross booking
value in 2023 was $2.3 billion, down 10% compared with 2022, which the company
said was “primarily due to lower
guest demand as traveler demand for domestic non-urban vacation rentals
normalizes from the highs of 2021 and 2022.”

Vacasa said it
finished the year with 42,000 homes on its platform, down 5% year over year.

In a call with
analysts to discuss the results, Greyber acknowledged the company has “not yet
turned the corner on churn” – an issue that has been
a concern for Vacasa for more than a year. 

“Some aspects of churn are an industry phenomenon, but many
are in our control,” he said.

“Improving the homeowner experience, including how we care for
their guests, is central to those efforts and homeowner retention will remain a
critical priority throughout 2024.”

And in the call
with analysts, chief financial officer Bruce Schuman said the company would not
be giving guidance about expectations for coming quarters due to the
uncertainty caused by “softening demand for domestic non-urban vacation rentals
as well as increases in supply of short-term rental units.”

“This creates significant uncertainty
around our view of the coming year,” he said. “Given these dynamics and their impact on
bookings variability, average gross bookings per home as well as continued
elevated churn, there are a wide range of potential outcomes for 2024. As a
result, we do not plan to provide guidance for 2024 until we have better
visibility to how this plays out.”

Vacasa operates in 35 states across the United States as well
as Canada, Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica.