Compass Cuts Salaries Up To 50 Percent For 3 Months, Offers Restricted Stock For Lost Wages

As more and more brokerages look for ways to survive the coronavirus outbreak, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin announced another round of cost-saving measures for the brokerage.

After a round of layoffs that shed 15 percent of Compass’ staff and curbed executive salaries by 25 percent, the brokerage will now trim salaries by 10 to 50 percent to cope with COVID-19’s rampage on real estate markets, according to an internal document reviewed by The Real Deal.

According to the internal document, Compass said the pay cuts will be temporary, impacting three months’ worth of pay. Reductions are being done in tiers: 10 percent cuts for those making under $75,000, 20 percent for those earning $75,000 to $150,000, and 30 percent for those making $150,000 or more. Some executives will see pay cuts of 50 percent. CEO Robert Reffkin previously said he would not take a salary for the rest of the year.

Employees will get the equivalent of their lost wages in the form of restricted stock on August 1, the document said.

“We are unfortunately taking steps to preserve as many jobs as possible during this unprecedented economic downturn,” the document said. “We thought we’d be working from home for weeks, with agents unable to show and sell home for weeks, and now it looks like a matter of months.”

The Real Deal

Of course, it’s worth noting that Compass isn’t the only technology-centric brokerage to see significant salary cuts and staff layoffs. Opendoor is suffering big-time. The firm had to lay off 35 percent of its staff amid coronavirus concerns. And Redfin, the flat-fee hybrid brokerage, has furloughed 41 percent of its salaried agents. Realogy has also seen drastic executive salary cuts, all engineered to keep the company afloat through a key selling season that has all but tanked otherwise extremely active markets.

But despite industry-wide challenges that the virus has wrought, Compass is still actively recruiting, The Real Deal reported.

Since mid-March, a Compass spokesperson said it hired 62 agents in the New York region. It brought on 43 agents in Short Hills, N.J., and 27 agents in Long Island, where it opened a new office in February.

All of the agents were onboarded virtually, and last month Compass rolled out a suite of virtual tools ranging from 3D video tours to targeted mobile ads.