#Roommates, social media practically erupted when a leaked video of a company Zoom call featured its CEO brutally laying off 900 employees just before Christmas—and now, he has apologized. Better.com CEO Vishal Garg formally apologized in a letter to his remaining employees for the way that he laid off almost a thousand members of his staff earlier this week.
@NBCNews reports, Vishal Garg, CEO of mortgage company Better.com, has responded to the extreme backlash he received after unexpectedly laying off 900 employees during a Zoom call by writing a letter to those who still remain with the company. “I want to apologize for the way I handled the layoffs last week. I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better. I own the decision to do the layoffs, but in communicating it I blundered the execution. In doing so, I embarrassed you. I realize that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse. I am deeply sorry and am committed to learning from this situation and doing more to be the leader that you expect me to be,” Garg wrote in the letter.
His apology comes on the heels of a leaked video of a Better.com Zoom company call was posted to TikTok, where Garg breaks the news that around 15% of the company’s workforce was being terminated—and they would only receive a four weeks of pay and three months of benefits. The video went viral because many believed that Garg was very cold and dismissive in the way he broke the financially devastating news to his employees just as the holidays are right around the corner. During the video, he said “This isn’t news that you are going to want to hear but ultimately it was my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me. It’s been a really, really challenging decision to make. But we are laying off about 15 percent of the company.”
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He continued, adding “If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated, effective immediately.” Although he apologized, some of those who were laid off don’t believe it was sincere.
A now-former employee told media outlets that Vishal Garg only apologized to save face and to clean up the PR nightmare that the video has caused the company in such a short time.
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