Bengaluru: Vishal Garg, founder and CEO of US digital mortgage firm better.com who fired 900 employees in three minutes last week zoom The call that went viral on social media platforms has prompted an apology from its employees for the way it has dealt with layoffs.
“I failed to show a fair amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals affected and their contributions to Better, I have the decision to lay off, but I made an execution mistake in communicating it. In doing so, I embarrassed you,” he wrote. “I realize that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse. I am deeply sorry and am committed to learning from this situation and doing more to become the leader you expect of me.”
The firing was all the more surprising as it came a week after the SoftBank-backed lender received $750 million in cash. Better.com has raised more than $400 million in equity capital since its inception and is valued at $7 billion. The company has about 10,000 employees, of whom a fifth are in India, mostly in Gurgaon.
In India too, many criticized the method of retrenchment. Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, tweeted, “My heart goes out to the 900 employees sacked via Zoom by Vishal Garg. Totally wrong! Do it one by one. And personally. And before Christmas. No more after $750- a recent investment of millions. This is how corporates get a ruthless tag!”
In his apology, Garg said, “We will talk more about what to expect for the year ahead at our upcoming All Hands meeting. I hope you will join me for the discussion. We will make sure that We are very transparent and aligned as a company on the goals of 2022, the metrics that matter most, and we are all working hard to serve our customers and achieve our mission. I believe in you, I believe in doing better, and I believe that by working together we can make homeownership better together.”
Garg founded Better.com in 2014 following his experience in home buying. Better.com offers services including mortgage, real estate, title and homeowners insurance.
“I failed to show a fair amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals affected and their contributions to Better, I have the decision to lay off, but I made an execution mistake in communicating it. In doing so, I embarrassed you,” he wrote. “I realize that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse. I am deeply sorry and am committed to learning from this situation and doing more to become the leader you expect of me.”
The firing was all the more surprising as it came a week after the SoftBank-backed lender received $750 million in cash. Better.com has raised more than $400 million in equity capital since its inception and is valued at $7 billion. The company has about 10,000 employees, of whom a fifth are in India, mostly in Gurgaon.
In India too, many criticized the method of retrenchment. Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, tweeted, “My heart goes out to the 900 employees sacked via Zoom by Vishal Garg. Totally wrong! Do it one by one. And personally. And before Christmas. No more after $750- a recent investment of millions. This is how corporates get a ruthless tag!”
In his apology, Garg said, “We will talk more about what to expect for the year ahead at our upcoming All Hands meeting. I hope you will join me for the discussion. We will make sure that We are very transparent and aligned as a company on the goals of 2022, the metrics that matter most, and we are all working hard to serve our customers and achieve our mission. I believe in you, I believe in doing better, and I believe that by working together we can make homeownership better together.”
Garg founded Better.com in 2014 following his experience in home buying. Better.com offers services including mortgage, real estate, title and homeowners insurance.
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