A CEO has brutally fired 900 staff on a Zoom call just weeks before Christmas.
Vishal Garg, the CEO of an online company, said his staff were so lazy and unproductive that they were ‘stealing’ from their customers.
In the savage Zoom, he said:
“Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”
“I come to you with not great news.
“The market has changed, as you know, and we have to move with it in order to survive so that hopefully, we can continue to thrive and deliver on our mission.
“This isn’t news that you’re going to want to hear.
“But ultimately it was my decision. And I wanted you to hear from me. It’s been a really, really challenging decision to make.”
This is the second time in my career I’m doing this and I do not want to do this.
“The last time I did it, I cried. This time, I hope to be stronger.
“We are laying off about 15 percent of the company for a number of reasons — the market, efficiency and performances and productivity.”
Here’s the video:
Garg said in a statement:
“Having to conduct layoffs is gut-wrenching, especially this time of year.
“However, a fortress balance sheet and a reduced and focused workforce together set us up to play offense going into a radically evolving homeownership market.
“I think they could have been phrased differently, but honestly, the sentiment is there.”
What Garg failed to mention was that his company had received $750 million in investments only a week earlier.
An email has now been sent to employees saying Garg will ‘take time off immediately’, with many thinking he’ll be sacked.
Here’s what they had to say:
Good Morning,
Vishal and the Board wanted to provide Better employees an update given the very regrettable events over the last week.
Vishal will be taking time off effective immediately. During this interim period, Kevin Ryan as CFO will be managing the day-to-day decisions of the company and he will be reporting to the Board. As well, the Board has engaged an independent 3rd party firm to do a leadership and cultural assessment. The recommendations of this assessment will be taken into account to build a long-term sustainable and positive culture at Better. 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 be proud of.
