Indian-Origin CEO, who Fired 900 Employees over Zoom Call, is Back at Work!

Better.com CEO Vishal Garg has joined back his position after he was placed on leave since December 10 following his handling of massive layoffs that shot to controversy in December 2021. 

Garg had fired over 9% of the fintech company employees in a three-minute zoom call on December 1. 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.

Soon after Garg was sent on leave which was communicated to the employees through an email, the company CFO Kevin Ryan took charge of day-to-day operations. The email sent to the CEO and the board of the company that wanted to give an update following the ‘regrettable events’, reads, 

“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.”

Informing that Better.com has hired a firm for leadership and cultural assessment, the board added in the email, 

“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.”

Back in the first week of December, Garg held a zoom video call with over 900 employees of the company whom he addressed as ‘Unlucky Group’ and laid them off just before the holiday season was approaching. He mentioned, ‘the market, performance, and productivity of the employees as reasons behind firing the employees.

“This isn’t news that you’re going to want to hear…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,” he can be seen saying in the viral video on the social media platforms. Indicating that this is not his first stint of firing a large number of employees, he added, “The last time I did it, I cried, this time I hope to be stronger.”

However, the exodus of senior executives that started with the outrage of the mass firing continues to go on while he is back on his duty. The people in the top positions of the company have lined up for resignations, including some on the board of Better.com.

The CEO was sent on leave after the widespread outrage over the behavior he showed while handling the situation, and the selection of words during the call with the laid-off employees. He was massively criticized by social media users.

Later on, after a week, Garg had issued an apology through a letter to employees for the ‘blunder’ and his behavior. He wrote, 

“I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better.” The letter further reads, “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.”

Notably, during the mass firing, Garg had informed the employees that 15% of the workforce will be fired, while a following communication by the company stated that 9% of the employees were laid off.

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time when Garg who started Better.com in 2012 was facing outrage and controversies due to his arrogant behavior. In 2020, he was accused of threatening his former business partner to burn alive. In the same year, the Better.com CEO accused his employees of being ‘damn too lazy’ who work only 2 hours a day and went on to call them ‘Dump Dolphins’.

The emails were accessed by Forbes in which he addressed his employees read, “You are a bunch of Dump Dolphins and…Dump Dolphins get caught in nets and eaten by sharks. So, stop it. Stop it. Stop it Right now. You are embarrassing me.”