OpenDoor lays off its entire India workforce of 250 amid AI push

OpenDoor, a San Francisco-based online real estate platform, has sacked its entire India workforce of nearly 250 employees as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes operations. The company is reorganising its business, consisting of smaller teams in the US that are built around AI tools and workflows.

OpenDoor Chief Executive Kaz Nejatian confirmed the news by sharing an X post with a screenshot of why the company is taking such explaining the rationale behind the decision. The caption reads, “Today we began to say goodbye to our colleagues in India as we wind down our India operations.”

“Our customers are in America, and that's where our operational work belongs,” the post added.

Why OpenDoor axes 250 India roles

Explaining the rationale behind the layoffs, Nejatian highlighted that OpenDoor had relied on a large India-based team to manage “manual workflows across fragmented systems". Now, the unified systems and AI-enabled teams have changed their operational model, reducing the need for overseas support. 

Nejatian added, “Our customers are in America, and the operational work we do for them is best done close to them.” He further highlighted that “Opendoor 2.0 will be a much smaller company.” With a small team, the company plans to do more work with the help of AI and simplify the way it operates by eliminating unnecessary tools and manual processes.

“Our people, aided by the tools we have built, will own more, build more, and have broader scope than ever before.” The executive further highlighted three major changes: 

“Fewer tools, fewer steps, fewer workarounds”

“One platform, so anyone at Opendoor can see how a home moves through buy, reno, and sell.”

“We will stop stacking manual workflows on top of point-solution tools. Every new process will earn its place.”

The company will be paying transition packages to impacted employees with “severance, outplacement services, and other resources.” In addition, a couple of employees will temporarily remain with the company to ensure the smooth transitions are handed over smoothly.