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Better.com, an online mortgage company, and its CEO Vishal Garg have faced significant criticism lately. Last week, Garg held a Zoom call with 900 employees and abruptly informed them of their termination in a three-minute statement. Subsequently, Garg accused the fired employees of “stealing” from the company by not working the hours they were paid for in a post on Blind, a social network platform.
The termination of 900 employees, constituting about 9% of Better.com’s workforce, including some top earners, has not been well-received by the public or the remaining employees. This action has led to backlash, with several members of Better.com’s board resigning, including executives in marketing, public relations, and communications.
https://t.co/cxofmffylA CEO Vishal Garg steps back as employees detail how he ‘led by fear’ https://t.co/rC1pEuyIeD by @bayareawriter
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) December 10, 2021
To mitigate the situation, Better.com’s executive board has decided to place Garg on immediate leave for an undisclosed period in an attempt to manage the fallout. “We have much work to do, and we hope that everyone can refocus on our customers and support each other to continue to build a great company and a company we can all be proud of,” mentioned the announcement memo authored by Paula Tuffin, Better.com’s chief compliance officer and general counsel.
During Garg’s absence, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan will oversee the company’s operations.
