Indian-American CEO, in Zoom call shocker, lays off 900 staffers

WASHINGTON: An Indian-American CEO has caused shock waves and outrage in the American workplace by summarily firing 900 employees in a Zoom call citing difficult market conditions, sloppy productivity and performance on their part despite a $750 million cash infusion into the company from investors.
Video clips of mortgage company Better.com CEO Vishal Garg terminating employees en masse are being widely shared on social media to illustrate what workers said was a heartless approach ahead of Christmas.
Garg, 43, began the Zoom call with the warning, "I come to you with not great news" before telling them, “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."
“This isn’t news you are going to want to hear. But ultimately, it was my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me. It’s been 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,” Garg says.
As he continues to explain the reasons for firing, shock and agony can be heard from fired workers constituting what the company officials said was 9 per cent of the 10,000 strong firm.
“This is not real. Oh my god, I can’t believe this. This is not real. Oh no, this can’t be happening,” the person can be heard saying in one clip.
Garg, an alumnus of the New York University's Stern School of Business and a father of three, founded Better.com in 2013 after his wife and he found it hard to get a mortgage to buy a home in a process most Americans find complicated and bewildering.
"I couldn’t find a single mortgage lender able to offer a pre-approval online without antiquated paper and phone-based manual processing. None could work on my schedule. And none gave me the peace of mind that they were not only the most efficient, but that they also had my best interests at heart," he explained in a founding note in which he disclosed they were still renting a home, even though he is now said to be a billionaire.
Having founded the company aimed at ending "3 weeks of brain damage and phone tag" and introducing a process "where you could get a pre-approval on your mobile phone in about 3 minutes," Garg claimed in the June 2021 note that "Our team has tripled in size (we’ve outgrown two offices in Manhattan) and we’re only continuing to add talented, passionate people who believe in our mission...And we’re just getting started."
Evidently, it was too much too soon. In the Zoom call, Garg explained that the market had changed and the company had to move with it in order to survive.
Better.com has back offices in India and it was not clear how many of the sacked workers are in India and how many in US. Garg said all the US-based employees laid off would get four weeks of severance, a month of full benefits and two months of coverup for which the company would pay the premium.
According to market reports, the mortgage lender received a $750 million cash infusion last week, mainly from Softbank, ahead of going public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).