US-based real estate technology company Opendoor has announced that it is winding down its India operations, saying that the operational work it performs is best done closer to its customers in the United States. The announcement was made by Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian in a post on X, where he revealed that the company had begun saying goodbye to its India-based employees. "I shared this note earlier today with the entire team at Opendoor. Today we began to say goodbye to our colleagues in India as we wind down our India operations," Nejatian wrote. "Our customers are in America, and that's where our operational work belongs," he added.Nearly 250 employees affected In an internal note shared by the CEO, Opendoor said that when it launched "Opendoor 2.0" a few months ago, the company had nearly 250 employees in India. Over the past several months, some of those roles had already been relocated to the United States. The company said it is now finalizing the process of bringing those positions closer to its American customers and beginning the shutdown of its India-based operations.— nejatian (@nejatian) "This affects all of our colleagues in India who have done meaningful work for Opendoor," the note said. Nejatian emphasized that the decision was not related to employee performance, describing the India team as "great people" and recommending them to prospective employers.Why is Opendoor closing its India office? According to the company, most of its customers are based in the United States and the operational work carried out for them is more effective when performed close to those customers. For years, Opendoor relied on a large India-based workforce to handle manual workflows spread across multiple systems. However, the company said it has since streamlined those systems and increasingly hired smaller AI-focused customer-facing teams throughout the US. "As we've unified these systems and have hired small AI-native customer-facing teams throughout the US, we need all this operational work to be done in person and close to our customers," the note stated.Where will the jobs go now? The company indicated that many of the roles previously handled from India are being moved back to the United States. Opendoor said it is restructuring around a smaller workforce while relying more heavily on technology and artificial intelligence tools. The company believes employees will be able to handle broader responsibilities with fewer manual processes. The changes outlined by the company include: Simplifying operations by reducing tools, workflow steps and workarounds. Building a unified platform that connects the home-buying, renovation and selling process. Reducing reliance on manual workflows layered on top of multiple software tools. Support for affected employees Opendoor said impacted workers in India will receive transition packages that include severance benefits, outplacement services and other support resources. The company added that a small number of employees will remain temporarily to help complete the transition of key workstreams before operations are fully wound down. Despite the move, the company said its overall strategy remains unchanged and that it believes it is in a strong position moving forward. "Our priorities and direction have not changed, and Opendoor is in a strong position and getting stronger," the note said.