With just weeks to Christmas, Vishal Garg, CEO of the American mortgage company Better.com, summoned 900 of his employees to attend a video conference, the purpose of which he did not specify.
From the first seconds of the call, the manager got right to the point, and stated that the company needed to lay off 15 per cent of its workforce.
"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off,” Garg told his employees in the Zoom call. “Your employment here is terminated effective immediately".
The entrepreneur continued his mass-firing by justifying that “the market has changed, we have to move with it in order to survive”.
“Ultimately, it was my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me,” he added.
He then told the employees they could expect an email from HR with details of severance and benefits, according to The Guardian.
The surprise announcement comes just one week after the mortgage lender startup reportedly received a $750 million (662 million) cash infusion from investors, according to Forbes.
In an email sent on Wednesday evening to current employees and published on the company’s website, the CEO backpedalled and sent an apology.
“I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better,” Garg wrote.
“I own the decision to do the layoffs, but in communicating it I blundered the execution”.
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