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Online mortgage company Better.com made headlines last year for terminating 900 employees abruptly during a Zoom meeting just before Christmas. The CEO Vishal Garg faced severe backlash for the insensitivity of the move, leading him to take a temporary leave of absence.
Unfortunately, this initial round of firings was not the end, as Better.com has laid off an additional 3,000 employees this week. Interim President Kevin Ryan cited a significant decrease in origination volume caused by rising interest rates as the primary reason for these new job cuts.
According to Ryan, “We must take the difficult step of streamlining our operations further and reducing our workforce in both the US and India significantly. This decision is largely influenced by the challenges impacting the residential real estate market.”
Around 3,000 employees out of the 8,000 working in the US and India have been let go. #vishalgarg #Betterdotcom #Bettercompany #BetterCEO #massfiring https://t.co/MDwrw1Tv8w
— ET Panache (@ETPanache) March 10, 2022
While Better.com had planned for a more discreet approach to notifying affected employees, many were alerted to the impending layoffs when severance payments appeared in their bank accounts ahead of the company’s communication.
A company spokesperson acknowledged, “The manner of notification was unintended and arose from our efforts to expedite severance payments to impacted employees.”
