Introduction:
There has been constant news surrounding the layoffs at Better.com. It is strange because there has been no sign of layoffs in the past fifteen to eighteen months in this current labor market. The Better.com CEO Vishal Garg had laid nine hundred people off in a single zoom call.
Vishal Garg, Better.Com CEO, and the story of the layoffs
Vishal Garg, who owns Better.com, a mortgage firm, called nine hundred of his employees on zoom and informed them that they belonged to the “unlucky group” being laid off if they were a part of the call. He blamed staff performance and market changes for the mass sacking. People have been criticizing him ever since, commenting that it has been a harsh, cold, and ruthless move, especially in the run-up to the holiday season.
Background of Vishal Garg
The Ceo and founder of Better.com, Vishal Garg, happens to have long list o issues that follow him. Vishal Garg Net worth amounts to almost four billion dollars. There had been some rumblings about the financial mismanagement of the company and how he was handling executive comp for a few employees. One person, in particular, an executive by the name of Elena Colner, was given better mortgage stock options potentially worth millions of dollars. Unlike regular packages, this one invested immediately. The board of directors was unclear and was not given the whole story. Another prominent investor, Goldman Sachs, recently sold much of their better mortgage stocks, and their firm did not disclose the reason. So a lot of famous names pulled out of better.com citing corporate governance issues that they had been experiencing while working with the company.
Layoffs at Better over a Zoom Call
Vishal Garg, Better.com Ceo, had a well-documented “grueling” style. Major publications like Forbes had this report where his tactics could be listed as berating employees over email for being slow. So when the layoff came after a 750 dollar cash infusion for the tech startup valued at seven billion, it was a piece of jaw-dropping news for everyone. So the fact that the company got a billion dollars of cash on the balance sheet while Vishal Garg is laying off fifteen percent of his workforce, which is a whopping nine hundred employees, weeks before the holiday just goes on to show the world the kind of leader he is.
Vishal Garg decides to go on indefinite leave
The entire public backlash finally got to Vishal Garg, CEO of Better.Com, since he announced that he is on an indefinite leave effective immediately. Vishal Garg told through a company memo that he is taking an indefinite period off, away from the company and his role. So this could be considered as a temporary step down. The company memo also mentioned that Kevin Ryan, the chief financial officer of the company, would convene over the company’s day-to-day decisions during this interim. The board has also attempted damage control to appoint an independent third-party firm to conduct cultural and leadership assessments. The poor leadership on the part of Vishal Garg affects the employees working at Better, both the ones laid off and the ones that continue to work, but there has also been a lot of negative publicity in terms of the customer base. Following the zoom call lay-off fiasco, three significant people, quite integral to the company, resigned, including the VP of communication, the PR head, and the marketing lead.
Conclusion:
The dust has not settled yet from this absolute public relations nightmare and the enormous blunder that Garg committed. So there is a big question revolving around the company’s future and its IPO. If someone is an investor looking to invest in better mortgage stock, this could be the correct time to think over whether they want to align themselves with the company. If someone is a customer, this scenario could negatively impact their choice for the company. For all other leaders and people in management positions worldwide, this is a classic example of what not to do when placed in a position of authority.
