The startup’s controversial plan to lay off half of its 8,000 workforce was exposed when bosses accidentally added a Severance Pay tab to doomed workers’ computer browsers and paid them parting money.
Better.com, which arranges online mortgages, is reportedly planning a layoff that equates to half its staff on Wednesday, three months after its chatty CEO fired 900 employees over Zoom and then branded employees lazy. thieves.
But they were eventually announced on Tuesday after a rather unfortunate bug where the severance pay tab appeared on workers’ internet browsers and then disappeared, with some even being paid the 60-day wages they were supposed to receive after they were laid off.
Sources confirmed to TechCrunch that the layoffs were supposed to happen at the start of the month, but executives pushed back the date after they were reportedly “unhappy with the leaked dates.”
Mortgage startup Better.com, whose CEO Vishal Garg (pictured) laid off 900 employees over a Zoom call on Christmas Eve, will lay off half of its 8,000 employees this week.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan formally announced his resignation via email on Tuesday. He did not specify a final hiring date, but noted that all affected employees would be eligible for a cash severance pay of at least 60 working days.
So we were supposed to find out? Current employee questioned in a Slack message received by The Daily Beast. “Cowardly shit… Grade A.”
“It’s disgusting to let people know about this through a payment app,” repeated another worker.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan formally announced his resignation via email on Tuesday. He did not name the final date of employment.
Better.com, which was valued at about $7.7 billion last year, has come under fire in recent months for employee relations after CEO Vishal Garg fired nine percent of the company — 900 employees — during a group video call, accusing them of in so “lazy” that they actually “stole” from customers.
In January, the company announced that Garg, 43, would return to his “full duties” after taking “a leave of absence to reflect on his leadership.” In an email announcing his return, he told staff that he “spent a lot of time thinking about where we are as a company and the type of leadership Better needs… and the leader I want to be.”
Better.com, which did not specify when Garg would return to his roles, also said it would be hiring new executives.
The mass layoff expected on Wednesday is expected to affect 4,000 of Better.com’s current employees, most of whom are in sales and operations positions.
Ryan’s letter to employees, shared online by one of the employees, cited “a rapidly changing residential real estate market” and “a sharp drop in lending due to rising interest rates” as the main reasons for the reduction in the workforce.
“Following a thorough and comprehensive review, it is clear that we will need to do more to ensure a strong path forward for the company and the vital work we are all doing to make home ownership more accessible to everyone,” Ryan wrote.
“Unfortunately, this means we must take the difficult step of further streamlining our operations and substantially reducing our workforce in both the US and India.”
Ryan stated that the company has “tremendous room to grow and service” but, in the meantime, “needs to adjust to the volatility of interest rates and the refinancing market in order to succeed.”
The mass layoff expected on Wednesday is expected to affect 4,000 of Better.com’s current employees, most of whom are in sales and operations positions. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan (pictured) cited “a rapidly changing residential real estate market” and “a sharp drop in lending due to rising interest rates” as the main reasons for the job cut.
The CFO said the decision was “largely driven” by the real estate market and “is in no way a reflection of the personal performance of any of the outgoing team members, all of whom have contributed to Better’s success.”
“We are not taking this decision lightly and would like to inform you of the important steps we will be taking in the coming days to support the transition of employees leaving Better. We are also taking steps to ensure a seamless service to our customers,” Ryan added.
He added that company executives are trying to “personally contact all employees whose jobs will be abolished in order to discuss this with them first.”
However, employees are disappointed that they found out about the layoffs through the online system before the official announcement.
“Sorry… this is the crappiest way to find out,” one employee on the Slack group reportedly wrote.
The company has employees around the world, including offices in India and the World Trade Center in New York. It is not clear what percentage of layoffs will affect American workers.
Meanwhile, some employees argue that the massive layoffs were to be expected, arguing that the company has been hiring heavily over the past two years, when record low interest rates helped keep the mortgage business afloat.
Interest rates are now expected to rise several times over the course of 2022 to cope with rising inflation, with demand for property purchases likely to drop sharply as a result.
The former senior staffer stated that while most CEOs would have taken a cautious approach, foreseeing an “inevitable downturn” in the market, “Vishal went all in” instead.
“This is what happens in the mortgage market, eventually the feeder stops,” the person said, suggesting that termination was not available.
The company has employees around the world, including offices in India and the World Trade Center complex in New York. It is not yet clear what percentage of layoffs will affect US workers.
Current and former employees, speaking to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity, said the company routinely mistreats its employees.
“We are so tired of being mistreated, so there is no loyalty. We are all tired of bullying and swearing,” said an employee who recently left the organization.
“Layoffs were what the public saw…[but] it was the last straw.”
One of the employees, allegedly last summer, Garg showed up at the World Trade Center office with a miniature hatchet he reportedly gave to a fellow executive who fired a large number of employees.
A source told the newspaper that the gift was marked by building security after it was discovered by a scanner.
In January, while hosting an “Ask Me Anything” workshop for select employees, Garg allegedly required attendees to put their phones in a paper bag before the event. They also had to go through a metal detector in an attempt to “weed out any other audio recorders”.
As you know, in December, Garg fired 900 “unlucky” employees because of a call via Zoom.
Garg fired nine percent of his employees over a Zoom call in December, telling employees they were “part of an unlucky group.”
“If you’re on this call, you’re part of a group of losers who get fired,” he said during the December call. “Your employment here is terminated, effective immediately.”
After the layoffs, he aggressively accused employees of stealing time and told the remaining employees that they would not be allowed to fail twice.
“You will be prompted to fail once. But he didn’t let it fail twice. Failure to meet deadlines is unacceptable,” he said in December at the Digital City Hall.
Then, on his blog, he lashed out at the laid-off employees for being so “lazy” that they were actually “stealing” from customers.
The father of three wrote on the professional network Blind: “Do you guys know that at least 250 laid-off people worked an average of 2 hours a day, and in the payroll system they worked 8 or more hours a day?”
“They stole from you and stole from our customers, who pay the bills, who pay our bills. Get educated,” he wrote.
He later apologized for his actions, apologizing for his actions as CEO and took a leave of absence to “reflect on his leadership”.
“I want to apologize for the way I handled the layoffs last week,” Garg wrote in a letter addressed to employees and later posted on the company’s website in December.
“I failed to show due respect and appreciation for the victims and their contributions to Better.
“I make the decision to dismiss, but reporting this, I made a mistake in execution. By doing so, I have dishonored you,” he added.
His letter continued: “I understand that the way I broke the news made a difficult situation worse. I deeply regret and am determined to learn from this situation and do more to be the leader you expect me to be.
In January, Better.com announced the return of Garg (pictured) to the company. The board told the staff that they were “confident in Vishal and the changes he intends to make to provide the type of leadership, direction and vision that Better needs at this key time.”
In January, Better.com announced his return to the company. The board told the staff it was “confident in Vishal and the changes he intends to make to provide the type of leadership, direction and vision that Better needs at this key time,” The New York Times, which received a copy of the report. email, reported.
After that heartless moment in early December when Garg fired 900 “unhappy” employees over Zoom, Better.com conducted a “thorough” and “independent” work culture review led by Jenner and Block’s lawyer Anthony Barkow.
According to the newspaper, the company is working to expand its management team by hiring a new chairman, president and chief human resources officer. Several dignitaries left their posts after the social media scandal erupted.
Richard Benson-Armer, a former senior partner at McKinsey, has been named interim chief of staff for the company. It is unclear exactly when he joined the Better team.
Meanwhile, Ryan, the company’s chief financial officer, has also been ordered to continue as CEO until Garg returns to work.
In addition, the company said it is implementing a training program to create a “respectful workplace” that will focus on new ethics and creating a healthier culture.