Vishal Garg is stepping away from his duties at better.com following public uproar over his mass Zoom layoff of some 900 employees—and subsequent media meltdown.
As we’ve previously reported, Garg laid off approximately 900 employees during a group Zoom call in what many are calling a tone deaf, impersonal delivery.
After seemingly making it about himself and by noting that this is only the second time he’s had to deliver this type of message and aimed to be stronger and not cry, Garg told the group they would be laid off effective immediately. Reasons for the layoffs included performance, productivity and market efficiency.
The Internet erupted once the clip hit YouTube and TikTok, which led to Garg initially going on the defense, accusing staff of stealing from their colleagues and customers and being unproductive. Since then, Better.com’s vice president of communications, head of marketing and head of public relations each submitted their resignations, according to The Daily Beast.
According to an internal e-mail sent to staff that has since been posted anonymously on the professional network Blind, Garg then apologized to the remaining team for how he handled the layoffs.
Today, Vice is reporting that Garg is stepping away, effective immediately. Here is the email the board of directors sent out Friday morning:
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.
Better Board of Directors
CFO Kevin Ryan will serve as interim CEO as the mortgage company continues to pursue SPAC merger.