A prominent Vancouver real estate company is laying off 31 employees, citing geopolitics, artificial intelligence and other industry upheavals.
Greg Zayadi, president of Rennie & Associates Realty Ltd., said the size of the company’s home office team is being reduced by 25 per cent from 123 to 92 people. The company has a total staff of over 400, according to its website.
Zayadi said in a May 8 post on LinkedIn that it “was a necessary step in response to a changing market, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. The individuals leaving us are thoughtful, talented contributors who have helped shape our culture and our business.”
He cited a “geopolitical, economic, urban affordability and AI-driven hypercycle" and said the firm is responding by becoming “leaner and more focused, and embracing AI and the tools that help us serve better.”
Zayadi said his LinkedIn post was intended to help those affected find new opportunities.
Company owner Bob Rennie declined to go into further details when reached by phone.
“People’s lives are in flux here,” he said.
Sam Mehrbod, founder of Vancouver-based Roomvu Technologies Inc., works in digital real estate marketing like Rennie. He confirmed that major disruptions are afoot.
“In the past, you needed, probably, an entire marketing team and a creative team to create content for a project, and content for listings and content for marketing materials. We don’t need those any more," he said.
"You can just do it with the click of a button [using AI]."
Mehrbod also pointed to high construction costs, tariffs, long permit delays and, more than anything, a slower pre-construction condo market.
The Rennie team was "heavily involved in pre-construction selling ... and also marketing the pre-construction industry," he said. "The biggest reason is the pre-construction industry has suffered."
