LoanDepot lost more than half its employees in 2022 according to an earnings report filed with Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage also took similar steps in response to market volatility last year and low origination volumes. The Foothill Ranch, California-based megalender saw 6,113 employees leave, reducing its headcount from 11307 to 5194 as of December 31, 2022. The lender’s “aggressive right sizing” resulted in $18.6 million in severance payments expenses. This was part of loanDepot’s restructuring plan, which was announced in July 2022. The plan, called “Vision 2025”, aims to restructure operations and reduce costs while focusing on the homebuyer market, especially first-time buyers. The lender set a goal to reduce non-volume-related expenses by $375 million to $400 millions annually by 2022. This was achieved through headcount reduction, attrition and business process optimization. It also aims to restructure and downsize operations while increasing the company’s focus on servicing the purchase market, particularly first-time homebuyers. However, the company is likely to continue to layoffs despite its efforts to reduce spending. Frank Martell, CEO at loanDepot, stated that profits are also likely to remain a problem, at least until 2023. This was during March’s quarterly earnings call. He said that the company would be able “to grow out of the difficult market.” LoanDepot reported a net loss in its fourth quarter earnings of $156.8million, which is more than the $137.5million loss in the third quarter. Overall, loanDepot’s total revenues fell by more than half to $1.3 billion in 2022, a decrease of $3.7 billion in 2021 due to “dramatic volatility”, which impacted nearly all aspects of the housing market.