Skift Take
Restructuring in itself isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world for a company, although fired employees might not see it that way. This is at least the second recent and high-profile Airbnb investment. The other, with Oyo, doesn't appear to be proceeding according to plan, either.
Lyric, the Airbnb-backed rental manager of multifamily apartments, hit the pause button on its growth strategy, cut its staff, and will focus on its best-performing markets.
The Real Deal reported that San Francisco-based Lyric, which managed some 600 units in more than a dozen cities around the United States, laid off some 25 of 120 employees early last month.
In a statement to Skift, Lyric said: “We’re continually evaluating how to best position Lyric to scale in a thoughtful fashion, all while adapting to a rapidly changing real estate, hospitality and capital landscape.”
The company added: “Lyric has evolved a lot since we started out 5 years ago, and our focus has shifted to growing what we believe is the future of this category — larger projects and increased density in some of our best performing cities. That means not only restructuring our operations but the teams that support each function, all with aim of creating a sustainable growth model and even better guest experience.”
Founder and CEO Andrew Kitchell declined to elaborate.
Airbnb led a $160 million Series B funding round of Lyric a little less than a year ago. At the time Skift questioned whether Lyric could be both a marketplace and distributor simultaneously.
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Tags: airbnb, alternative accommodations, layoffs, lyric, short-term rentals
Photo credit: Lyric fired about 25 staffers recently. Pictured is one of Lyric's "creative suites" in New Orleans. Lyric