Better.com Announces 3,000 More Lay-offs in US, India

Synopsis- The company posted a letter to its employees on March 9 on its website making the announcement on behalf of interim President and Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Ryan, and the management team. The letter cited the ‘rapidly changing residential real estate market and dramatic drop in origination volume due to rising interest rates’ as the reason behind the decision.

After hitting headlines for firing over 900 employees on a Zoom call around three months ago, online mortgage lending company Better.com is back again, this time firing over 3000 employees, according to reports. Notably, the employees who are going to be fired are from India and United States (US) both and include pregnant women as well.

The company posted a letter to its employees on March 9 on its website making the announcement on behalf of interim President and Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Ryan, and the management team. The letter cited the ‘rapidly changing residential real estate market and dramatic drop in origination volume due to rising interest rates’ as the reason behind the decision.

“It is clear – after careful, comprehensive review – that we will need to do more to ensure a strong path forward for the company and the vital work we are all doing to make homeownership more accessible for everyone,” the letter reads.

Asserting that the decision is in no way affected by performance rather is driven by the market’s situation, the letter further added, 

“Unfortunately, that means we must take the difficult step of streamlining our operations further and reducing our workforce in both the US and India in a substantial way. We have huge opportunities ahead to grow and to serve, but we must adjust to volatility in the interest rate environment and refinancing market to get there successfully.”

The employees who are in line to be sacked will get a call from Better.com’s leadership team and an email from HR detailing transition support in the upcoming days, as per the letter. The company will also provide the employees with a minimum of 60 working days and a maximum of 80 working days cash severance payments.

Notably, affected employees will be getting extended medical benefits. “To help ensure continuity of medical benefits, Better will extend health insurance coverage in the US for affected employees through March and will then provide three months of continued COBRA coverage for which the company will pay the premiums,” the statement said.

However, noting that the employees who are being laid off may include pregnant women, the company’s Senior Product Designer Eric Blattberg posted a screenshot of a Slack conversation on employment-oriented platform LinkedIn mentioning that the company will provide extra medical benefits to all pregnant women affected due to the lay-off.

Blattberg’s post reads, 

“These women who are pregnant are ‘protected’ from discrimination. That’s what all the training will tell you, but interviewing while pregnant tells a different story. These women are in a high-stress situation which can negatively affect their pregnancy. I implore you to shield them in some capacity so as not to have a reaching effect on their unborn children. Extend their medical coverage on an individual basis to carry them to term and cover postnatal care.”

Besides this, the company has also said that it will help employees find their next job, and in order to do so, it has partnered with Randstad RiseSmart which is a career transition and talent mobility provider. “In addition, departing employees will have 24/7 access to RiseSmart’s extensive online job support portal.”

Earlier in December 2021, Better.com CEO Vishal Garg had fired over 900 employees in a three-minute zoom call. The video clip of Garg firing employees during the Zoom meet and calling them, ‘Unlucky Group’ was shared widely on social and drew outrage across the world. Following that, the CEO was placed on leave.