Better.com CEO Vishal Garg has now apologised after a video of him firing 900 employees over Zoom went viral. Garg has faced severe backlash over social media and news channels, as the video of the three-minute-long Zoom call was leaked and subsequently spread over the internet. The chief executive has now stated that he “ blundered the execution” and “embarrassed” the staff with his behaviour during the call.
“I want to apologise for the way I handled the layoffs last week,” Garg said in a statement.
“I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better,” he added. “I own the decision to do the layoffs, but in communicating it I blundered the execution. In doing so, I embarrassed you. I realize that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse.”
Several Indian CEOs expressed their shock at the incident on social media as well. Edelweiss Mutual Fund CEO, Radhika Gupta said companies should start to “value compassion and dignity at the workplace,” while RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka said the incident was “totally wrong!” Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, also wondered whether Garg could survive an incident like this or not.
“I’m curious whether you think a CEO can survive after a blunder like this? Is it fair, or not, to allow a second chance…?” he tweeted.
I’m curious whether you think a CEO can survive after a blunder like this? Is it fair, or not, to allow a second chance…? https://t.co/sPDcr9qmYE
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) December 9, 2021
The apology note seems to be addressed to the remaining employees in the organisation, and no apology seems to be directly made to the laid-off workers. Garg had fired over 9 percent of the company’s workforce after the employees were told to join a Zoom webinar and were then promptly fired on the spot.
"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effective immediately,” Garg said on the call on December 1.
Garg had later said the fired employees had been “stealing” from their colleagues and customers by being sluggish in work in a series of internal messages, reported Fortune. Garg claimed that the fired employees were only working for two hours a day on average.
The CEO has had a chequered past, having called his employees “dumb dolphins” and allegedly threatening his former business partner Raza Khan by saying that he would “staple him against a f*****g wall and burn him alive” during a deposition.
Better.com, an online mortgage originator, had raised $750 million in funding, just before the employees were fired. Better.com was also reportedly working on going public through a blank-cheque SPAC. The company is backed by investors like SoftBank and Novator.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
First Published: Dec 9, 2021 5:48 PM IST
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