The boss of digital mortgage outfit Better.com is under fire after laying off around 900 employees on a single Zoom call and then accusing many of "stealing" by being unproductive.
"I come to you with not great news," CEO Vishal Garg told the staffers at the beginning of a three-minute call last week.
"We are laying off about 15% of the company for a number of reasons — the market efficiency and performances, and productivity," he continued.
"If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off," said the CEO according to recordings of the call posted on social media.
Garg went on to tell his soon-to-be ex-employees that this was the second time he had done this and that "last time I did it I cried," adding "this time I hope to be stronger".
In May, Better.com outlined plans to go public via a Spac. However, days before the mass firing, it secured a $750 million cash infusion when the blank cheque firm involved in the deal, Aurora Acquisition Corp, and SoftBank agreed to hand over half of the financing agreement early.
To add insult to injury, days after the firings Garg posted messages on anonymous professional network Blind, saying: “You guys know that at least 250 of the people terminated were working an average of 2 hours a day while clocking 8 hours+ a day in the payroll system?"
Added the less-than-contrite CEO, who confirmed to Forbes that he was the author: “They were stealing from you and stealing from our customers who pay the bills that pay our bills. Get educated.”