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Equifax reduces 10% of its employees during the fourth quarter

According to Equifax’s fourth quarter earnings report, 2,350 workers were laid off. According to Equifax’s fourth quarter earnings report, 2,350 workers were laid off. The company also reported a significant 23% drop in mortgage revenue for the year. Mark Begor, Equifax’s CEO, stated that the company had a strong 2022 with 17% growth in non-mortgage revenue in a market downturn. We are taking steps to respond to the uncertain economy and declining mortgage market. We are also accelerating our data-technology cloud transformation cost savings. We are also executing broader proactive cost actions in order to reduce spending by $200 million, which includes $120 million in expense reductions and $80 million capital spending reductions. The CEO of Equifax stated that the company will be focusing on its “non mortgage” side of business, which he expects to be strong through 2023. He said that Equifax is excited about the new Equifax, and that it remains confident in its long-term 8-12% growth framework which will deliver higher margins as well as free cash flow. Equifax and other credit reporting bureaus have been in the spotlight over the past year as the mortgage industry moves towards accepting and gradually incorporating alternative data. The new types of payment histories, along with data already in credit reports, will increase opportunities for first-time buyers. Equifax is not the only vendor affected by the low origination environment. Other vendors that provide services for the mortgage industry have either reduced staff or closed down operations completely. In January, cloud-based platform provider nCino, acquired recently by SimpleNexus, cut 7% of its workforce. Promontory MortgagePath closed its doors in November as a provider of mortgage fulfillment services. This was due to “unprecedented, rapid mortgage market deterioration.”