50 Ex-Glickman Agents Leave Jon Douglas Co.

Jon Douglas Co., a major real estate brokerage, has let about 35 agents go since June and might trim an additional 50 or so agents in the next several months because of sluggish sales, the company’s namesake and chief executive said Monday.

Besides the 35 agents that were asked to leave, 15 others left on their own accord, Douglas said. All were former agents of Mike Glickman Realty, once the Valley’s largest real estate brokerage that sought Bankruptcy Court protection last June. Douglas hired about 300 former Glickman agents, including Mike Glickman, after the firm collapsed.

Douglas overall has 2,180 agents in 36 offices in California, including six branches in the San Fernando Valley.

Douglas said any further trimming of his staff would not be limited to former Glickman agents. “I’m going to ask people for a total commitment to do what is necessary in today’s market,” he said. “If they can’t give me that for one reason or another, I’m going to ask them to go somewhere else.”

Many real estate agents are not technically employees of Douglas or other brokerages. They are “independent contractors” who share commissions with a specific brokerage in exchange for using a brokerage’s facilities and name.