It started with an invitation to a meeting by Zoom and ended with a massive layoff.
“If you are on this call, you are part of the unfortunate group that is being laid off,” Vishal Garg, chief executive of the mortgage firm, told about 900 employees. Better.com, on the call, which was later shared on social media.
The fact has raised questions in the country among those who consider that the company used a “harsh” and “cold” and “unethical” method to terminate the contract of its employees, especially in the run-up to Christmas.
The number of laid off employees represents 15% of the company’s payroll.
“The last time I did this I cried,” Garg told staff on the call.
The executive explained that behind the decision was “the performance and productivity of the staff” and “changes in the market.”
He did not mention the cash infusion of US$750 millones that Better.com received from investors last week.
Better.com CFO Kevin Ryan told the BBC that “having to make layoffs is heartbreaking, especially at this time of year.”
However, he added that having “a strong balance sheet and a lean, focused workforce” was necessary to tackle the “radically evolving homeownership market.”
Better.com, which aims to use technology to make the home buying process “faster and more efficient,” is backed by Japanese conglomerate Softbank and is worth about $ 6 billion.
Questioning
Garg’s management style has been criticized before, mainly after an email he sent to staff and that the magazine Forbes got last year.
In the email, Garb wrote: “THEY ARE TOO SLOW. They’re a bunch of SILLY DOLPHINS … SO STOP. STOP. STOP RIGHT NOW. They ARE embarrassing ME.
After the dismissal of this Monday, the magazine Fortune confirmed that Garg was the author of a previously written anonymous blog post in which he accused staff of kicking out “robbing” their colleagues and clients for being unproductive.
He also pointed out that they worked only two hours a day, while they claimed to have done it for eight or more.
Gemma Dale, Professor of Labor Law and Business Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, opined that the way the dismissal occurred “is not the way to run an organization.”
A mass dismissal like this would not be legal in several countries, according to the academic.
“Just because you can do this in the United States doesn’t mean you should,” he added.
“There are ways of doing these things that, even in difficult conditions, are empathetic and decent.”
In the expert’s opinion, decisions of this type could harm both the company and its staff, since “existing employees will see how the company treats people as a sign of how it will treat them in the future.”
“There are proper channels through which to deal with staff who do not meet the required standards or amount of work and while employers have the right to take appropriate action, there is a right way to do these things. both morally and legally“, I consider.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
