CEO fires 900 employees over Zoom

[Thomas Veil]

Better.com CEO fires 900 employees over Zoom

Better.com CEO Vishal Garg announced the mortgage company is laying off about 9% of its workforce on a Zoom webinar Wednesday abruptly informing the more than 900 employees on the call they were being terminated just before the holidays.

www.cnn.com

"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off," Garg said on the call, a recording of which was viewed by CNN Business. "Your employment here is terminated effective immediately."

That's classy.

Of course, this guy has class coming out of his ass.

Garg has been involved in controversy before, as evidenced by an email he sent to staff that was obtained by Forbes.
"You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS... SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME," he wrote.

Who wouldn't want to work for this guy?

 

[Roller]

What a great way to demonstrate that your company name means nothing when it comes to business practices, including HR.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I don’t want to sound like I am defending that POS of a CEO and sorry example of a human being, but the “smart working from home” generation doesn’t have much to complain if things are even less human than before and done via Zoom. Can’t have it both ways guys.

 

[Renzatic]

...dumb dolphins?

 

[Eric]

I don’t want to sound like I am defending that POS of a CEO and sorry example of a human being, but the “smart working from home” generation doesn’t have much to complain if things are even less human than before and done via Zoom. Can’t have it both ways guys.

I work from home and have never been more stressed out. Some weeks I'm putting in 60 or 70 hours, you are constantly glued to your desk, it's where you eat, juggle your personal life and put work ahead of everything else. The biggest difference is that when you go into an office, you get to turn off your working hat when you leave the office, no such thing exists when working remotely.

Sorry, but this statement sounds completely out of touch with the modern day working environment.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I don’t want to sound like I am defending that POS of a CEO and sorry example of a human being, but the “smart working from home” generation doesn’t have much to complain if things are even less human than before and done via Zoom. Can’t have it both ways guys.

I don't have a work from home job, but if I did, and with the coverage this story is getting, I would now be stressed out if I was told we need to come into the office for a meeting.

It kind of reminds me of a job I had that when a certain group of suits came into the office there was a 50/50 chance it meant somebody was getting fired. At one point I was literally the only employee left in the office for months.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I

Sorry, but this statement sounds completely out of touch with the modern day working environment.

you mean mine?

 

[Eric]

you mean mine?

If your home working environment is the way you have portrayed it, then yes. Most of us spend hours a day in these meetings, the only difference is you're not driving into the office for them, which means there's more time for more meetings, often times I'll have 8 or more a day.

Your implication is that zoom meetings are less work and they have it easy is disingenuous, I would even venture to say it makes things harder because unlike an office, you cannot leave your home.

On the topic of this guy and his company, if he had that many people "only working 2 hours per day" then it's not the fault of the employee, it's a poorly managed company. In the end it was a mass layoff for a company, which is not uncommon, the only reason this is really a story is because of the platform used to do it.

 

[Joe]

I don't see a problem with the zoom call to fire people. This entire pandemic people have been saying they can get their work done from home without having to waste time in the office. On the other hand, you can get fired from home too.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Your implication is that zoom meetings are less work and they have it easy is disingenuous,

Not at all. I am actually arguing the opposite: the lines between work and home will blur even further all while the dehumanization process will speed up, causing more work, less recognition, and a less humane work environment.

In other words - and here I will simplify a bit - I think that those on the frontlines of this push for smart work at all cost (I also dislike the term “smart working”. Am I doing stupid work because I am in an office?) don’t realize that they’re trading short term advantages (less commute, etc) for a much more dangerous, impersonal, and more stressful work environment.

 

[rdrr]

I wonder if he had one of those zany zoom background turned on?

 

[Eric]

Not at all. I am actually arguing the opposite: the lines between work and home will blur even further all while the dehumanization process will speed up, causing more work, less recognition, and a less humane work environment.

In other words - and here I will simplify a bit - I think that those on the frontlines of this push for smart work at all cost (I also dislike the term “smart working”. Am I doing stupid work because I am in an office?) don’t realize that they’re trading short term advantages (less commute, etc) for a much more dangerous, impersonal, and more stressful work environment.

Okay, appreciate the clarification I can see we agree here. I have personally never had more stress than WFH, even when commuting it's downtime that belongs to you, as much as that may not sound ideal I used to look forward to it to unwind.

When at the home office you're always available unless you specify otherwise. I have to actually block out times to eat and even then people still book over it. It's no way to live your life man, I'm retiring next year and it can't come soon enough.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Okay, appreciate the clarification I can see we agree here. I have personally never had more stress than WFH, even when commuting it's downtime that belongs to you, as much as that may not sound ideal I used to look forward to it to unwind.

When at the home office you're always available unless you specify otherwise. I have to actually block out times to eat and even then people still book over it. It's no way to live your life man, I'm retiring next year and it can't come soon enough.

First, Congrats on your now near retirement! I am sure you will love it.

Exactly, and that’s why I did everything in my power last year to not miss a single day at the office; thankfully I am part of a skeleton crew so I worked from home probably less than ten days. I think that people don’t see that on top of eternal availability (which will be exacerbated if different time zones are involved; after all if you work from home you are also always at your office!), privacy will vastly be reduced. I can already foresee requests for spying software and always-on cameras in the room designated for work and stuff like that.

Again, decades ago I thought that universal connectivity would’ve saved us, now I think it will destroy society. Looks like we haven’t learned from our mistakes with social media (2007:”it’s the best thing in the world”) or with email (1995:” so cool, you can check it from your home!”).

 

[DT]

I wonder if he had one of those zany zoom background turned on?

"Good Afternoon, Vishal Garg coming to you from a tropical island ... to tell you you're all fired!"

"Hahaha, just kidding ... I'm not actually on a tropical island"

*ends call*

 

[DT]

Kind of a peripheral question (maybe a thread?), I wonder if anyone else works from a home office, not remote, like the home is the business / they are the owner / etc.

I have at least 2 other friends that followed the same path as I did, tech sector, home office, no office/no staff/ mostly no travel.

But some of the same concerns, potential issues, i.e., you're always at work, or never at home, or something ...

 

[rdrr]

Okay, appreciate the clarification I can see we agree here. I have personally never had more stress than WFH, even when commuting it's downtime that belongs to you, as much as that may not sound ideal I used to look forward to it to unwind.

When at the home office you're always available unless you specify otherwise. I have to actually block out times to eat and even then people still book over it. It's no way to live your life man, I'm retiring next year and it can't come soon enough.

Agreed! Work from home, just blurs the line between personal and professional life. Between March 2020 and April 2021, I think I had a working lunch about every day. Some of those lunch meetings was one that occurred twice a week to discuss Covid preparedness (god I couldn't get away from the bad news). Probably worked 7:30 - 6 every day without a lunch break. Weekend work to setup testing for my staff, and constant on-call to support Quarantine/Isolation housing. Also to top it off, because I hit a milestone of 15 years of vested service, I was given an extra week of PTO for that year. Which happened to coincide with the pandemic and stay at home orders... Good times!

 

[Thomas Veil]

I don't see a problem with the zoom call to fire people. This entire pandemic people have been saying they can get their work done from home without having to waste time in the office. On the other hand, you can get fired from home too.

I think the issue is with the tackiness of it. The story doesn't mention how the possibility of layoffs was first announced. If it was one of those things that was just swirling in the rumor mill (as it often is) then inviting people to a meeting and saying, "Hey, guess what??" has gotta be devastating.

Better to maybe first call a zoom meeting for the entire company to say, "We're going to be laying off x00 people. Please watch your email for more information," and then sending them word that way.

Or better still...every company has layers. It'd be best to follow the traditional method: have the CEO pass the information to department head types, and have them inform their own employees. I know I'd rather get the bad word from my immediate boss, not from a CEO whom I likely don't even know, in a gang firing event.

 

[Eric]

Kind of a peripheral question (maybe a thread?), I wonder if anyone else works from a home office, not remote, like the home is the business / they are the owner / etc.

I have at least 2 other friends that followed the same path as I did, tech sector, home office, no office/no staff/ mostly no travel.

But some of the same concerns, potential issues, i.e., you're always at work, or never at home, or something ...

For me it's both a home office and remote work, and I do have staff that reports up to me. However, I don't own the business, I just manage one of the practices.