More than 900 employees of Better.com were laid off during a Zoom webinar last week. Vishal Garg, the company’s CEO, announced that the New York-headquartered mortgage company was laying off about 15 percent of its workforce.
"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.
The two-minute-long call has since gone viral online.
“I come to you with not great news. The market has changed, as you know, and we have to move with it in order to survive so that hopefully, we can continue to thrive and deliver on our mission. This isn’t news that you’re going to want to hear. But ultimately it was my decision. And I wanted you to hear from me. It’s been a really, really challenging decision to make,” he said.
This is the second time in his career that he was forced to do this. “The last time I did it, I cried. This time, I hope to be stronger. We are laying off about 15 percent of the company for a number of reasons -- the market, efficiency and performances and productivity,” Garg said in the call.
An employee could be heard crying and saying, “This is not real… Oh my god! I can’t believe this…” in the recording, reported People Matters.
Garg ended the call by saying that the employees would be contacted by the HR department for the details regarding benefits and severance.
"Having to conduct layoffs is gut-wrenching, especially this time of year," CFO Kevin Ryan said in a statement to CNN Business. "However a fortress balance sheet and a reduced and focused workforce together set us up to play offence going into a radically evolving homeownership market."
Fortune had later reported that Garg had accused the laid-off employees of “stealing” by being unproductive and only working two hours a day.
Garg’s controversial past has been well documented.
Forbes had obtained a letter that he had sent to some of his staff in the past. "You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS... SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME," he wrote.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
