CoStar Group announces changes to its workforce

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Multiple sources say CoStar Group laid off employees on Thursday in Richmond.

The company also announced that it expects to add 1,000 new jobs this year.

CoStar Group would not confirm how many employees were laid off.

However, sources are telling the Times-Dispatch that around 120 workers were let go.

“What it seems like were seeing more here with CoStar, what I can get from the press release is what we call a structural employment change,” Stephen Day with VCU’s School of Business said.

The company plans to hire for additional roles in development, technology, artificial intelligence, video production, real estate writing, news and management.

CoStar has been in Richmond since 2016.

In a press release on Thursday, CoStar said it “expects to eliminate roles in 2025 from efficiencies gained by using AI and reallocate those resources into other areas.”

“They hinted to finding more efficiencies in the company so what they’re trying to do is change the makeup of the resources of their company so they can be more profitable,” Day said.

Several impacted employees anonymously contacted 12 On Your Side, saying they were blindsided. However, one worker said she could see the writing on the wall.

12 On Your Side learned the layoffs hit many departments. Managers, writers and video editors were just some workers called into a room and told they no longer had jobs.

Meanwhile, access to their company’s computers quickly shut off.

“Changing jobs is often a part of life, and I guess I would just encourage people to be as resilient as they can be,” Day said.

CoStar Group would not comment other than to point to the statement in their press release that says jobs would be cut due to efficiencies in artificial intelligence.

“The company also anticipates reducing some roles during normal annual performance management,” CoStar said.

“From what I can gather, it seems like it’s just more of them trying to keep pace of the modern economy and shift their resources inside their company to match that,” Day said.

As for CoStar’s plans for a thousand new jobs, the company says it plans to add 500 Homes.com sales professionals by 2026.

It also expects to add another 500 employees when it completes its acquisition of Matterport.

A 1 million-square-foot campus along the James River is expected to be completed in May 2026, housing 3,500 employees.

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