Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Better.com CEO Hit With Backlash For Laying Off 900 Employees On Zoom Right Before The Holidays

Better.com CEO Hit With Backlash For Laying Off 900 Employees On Zoom Right Before The Holidays
@wanderellaco/TikTok

Is there anything worse than getting fired over zoom?

How about getting fired over zoom at the very beginning of the holiday season?


Cruel as such a thing may sound, that's exactly what happened to 900 employees of mortgage company Better.com, when CEO Vishal Garg laid off 15% of his staff in a three minute Zoom call.

The video found its way to the TikTok page of @wanderellaco, where it received over 19 thousand views.

WARNING: NSFW language

@wanderellaco

#fyp #laidoff #savage


The video began with Garg telling his employees the "market has changed" and Better.com would have to move with it in order to survive.

He then told those receiving the video what he had to say was "not news they wanted to hear" and what he was about to tell them was his decision and "a really really challenging decision to make."

"This is the second time in my career I'm doing this, and I do not, do not want to do this."
"The last time I did it I cried, this time I hope to be stronger."

But Garg remained emotionally neutral throughout the video, even when he announced he was laying off 15% of their workers.

Garg cited the "market, efficiency, performances and productivity" as the main reasons behind the layoffs.

While Garg didn’t show any visible outward emotion during his presentation, the unnamed and unseen man watching the video could be heard getting audibly riled up at the news.

First shouting "F*ck you dude" back at Garg when he revealed those receiving the video were the unlucky 15%, he then asked "are you f*cking kidding me" when Garg revealed those on the receiving end of the video were "terminated immediately."

After listing the next steps in their terminations as well as their severance packages, Garg concluded the video by thanking the fired employees for their "contributions” to Better.com.

"I wish the news was different."
"I wish we were thriving as enthusiastically as we were at the beginning of this year."
"But, that's not the case, and I'm sure you wil leave us, and be more successful, more fortunate and luckier in your next endeavor."
"I Wish you all the best of luck, thank you for everything you've done for better."

In spite of everything Garg said in the video, Better.com is hardly struggling financially.

As reported by CNN Business, Better.com announced it was going public this past May, receiving $750 million as a result of an SPAC merger and is expected to eventually be valued at $1.1 billion.

Perhaps with that in mind, viewers of the video on TikTok were less than sympathetic towards Garg, if not flat out outraged.

@wanderellaco/TikTok

@wanderellaco/TikTok

@wanderellaco/TikTok

@wanderellaco/TikTok

@wanderellaco/TikTok

@wanderellaco/TikTok

@wanderellaco/TikTok

Garg is no stranger to controversy.

Just last year, an angry and abusive email Garg sent to his staff was published by Forbes.

In it, Garg wrote:

"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."

Following the mass firing, Garg confirmed to Fortune he posted on Blind, an app where workers can anonymously report toxic behavior in the workplace, seemingly in a way to defend his actions.

Several of those comments were captured by screenshot and shared on Twitter.


 

Garg didn't hold back on his views of his staff's behavior in the angry comments, calling some of his staff "ingrates" and accusing them of laziness and theft.

"You guys know that at least 250 of the people terminated were working an average of 2 hours a day while clocking in 8 hours+ a day in the payroll system?"
"They were stealing from you and stealing from the customers who pay the bills that pay our bills."
"Get educated."
If Garg was hoping to gain sympathy by kicking his employees when they were down, reactions to the comments on Twitter suggested he failed miserably in his mission.


 


 


 


 

Following the ever growing backlash thrown at him, Garg subsequently sent out an apology to the terminated employees for his behavior.

"I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better."
"I own the decision to do the layoffs, but in communicating it I blundered the execution. In doing so, I embarrassed you."

Whether those 900 affected employees accepted his apology remains unclear, but the subsequent resignations of Better.com's VP of Communications, Head of Public Relations and Head of Marketing can't be helping his cause.

Bloomberg also reported Better.com is pushing back its SPAC merger as a result of the ongoing controversy.

It all leaves one to wonder if “Better” is a truly accurate description of the company.

More from Trending

Joanna and Chip Gaines
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images

HGTV Stars Respond To Backlash From Christian Fans For Casting Same-Sex Couple In Their New Series

Back in 2016, home renovation and lifestyle power couple Joanna and Chip Gaines faced accusations of anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry. The criticism stemmed from their attendance at a Waco, Texas church that preached against LGBTQ+ equality and basic human rights.

At the time, the couple owned and operated Magnolia Homes, a remodeling and design business in Waco, Texas, and their HGTV program Fixer Upper was a hit. After the show ended in 2018, the couple created their own Magnolia Network in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery in 2020 to create original content and air other home and lifestyle programs.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshots from video of JD Vance at Disneyland
@janekleeb/X

JD Vance Called Out For Hypocrisy As He Visits Disneyland With His Family Amid Boos

On Saturday, one-time vehement Trump critic turned MAGA Republican convert Vice President JD Vance went on vacation to Disneyland in blue state California, despite Disney World in red state Florida being closer to Washington D.C. and in the middle of MAGA territory.

The administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump is currently engaged in a face-off with California over occupying forces sent by Trump to Los Angeles, which is about 50 miles from Anaheim where Disneyland is located, making Vance's choice even more questionable.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Joe Biden
Mandel Ngan/Pool/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Joe Biden Calls Out 'Liar' Trump Over His Claims About Biden's Use Of Autopen For Pardons

Speaking to The New York Times, former President Joe Biden called President Donald Trump a "liar" over claims that Biden's pardons are "void" because they were done by autopen, a conspiracy theory heavily promoted by Republicans who've already suggested many times that Biden was not mentally fit while in office.

In the final hours of his presidency, Biden issued a series of preemptive pardons, including ones for his relatives, all members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack—such as former Congresswoman Liz Cheney—and several of Trump’s most prominent adversaries, including General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nancy Mace
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Rep. Nancy Mace Gets Brutal Reminder On X After She Tried To Praise Trump For 'Rebuilding' The U.S.

South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace was fact-checked by an X Community Note after she tried to praise President Donald Trump for "rebuilding" the country, when she herself voted against President Biden's 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

The IIJA authorized $1.2 trillion in funding and the increased federal spending in recent years has improved U.S. ports, roads, parks, and other services in a country that civil engineers have long said spends too little on infrastructure.

Keep ReadingShow less
black Lamborghini parked in front of a boutique
Danilo Capece on Unsplash

Surprising Things Poor People Learned When Dating Someone Rich

There are life lessons learned through adversity. Some of them are actual survival skills while others are about managing expectations and disappointment.

But some people face very few hardships in their lives due to the power of money.

Keep ReadingShow less