layoffs

Better.com CEO Lays Off 900 Employees During Pre-Holiday Zoom Call

“If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off,” CEO Vishal Garg said. “Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”

In this photo illustration, the website of Zoom Video Communications Inc is seen
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About 900 employees of digital mortgage company Better.com learned they had been laid off in an abruptly-scheduled, three-minute group Zoom call just weeks before Christmas.

"We are laying off about 15 percent of the company for a number of reasons — the market efficiency and performances, and productivity," CEO Vishal Garg said during the Dec. 1 meeting, according to a recording of the call posted to TikTok. He told employees the decision to let them go was "challenging."

Better.com announced in May plans to go public, but the deal was delayed. A day before the layoffs, the company received a $750 million cash infusion from its backers, Fortune and TechCrunch reported. An employee who was laid off told NBC News the mass firing was an indication that the company needed “capital urgently.”

Representatives for Better.com did not respond to multiple requests for comment from NBC News.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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