“If you are part of this call, it is because you are one of the unlucky ones who are being made redundant.
Your contract ends with immediate effect.
Here's what Vishal Garg, CEO of Better.com, announced to 900 of his employees at a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, December 1.
"The market has changed, as you know, and we must evolve with it to survive," he said, in a monotonous voice during the brief videoconference filmed by a stunned employee.
Contacted by US media TechCrunch, the company said in a written statement that “a strong balance sheet and a small, focused workforce allow us to go on the offensive in a homeownership market that is changing radically.
An announcement that goes badly, a few days after the company, based in New York and valued at $ 7 billion, received an injection of $ 750 million (663 million euros) from its historical investors, SoftBank and Aurora Acquisition, according to Les Échos.
In an interview given to the American magazine Fortune, Vishal Garg defends himself by asserting that 250 people, who are part of the 900 employees to have been dismissed, worked an average of two hours a day, instead of eight, according to him.
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"Band of remaining dolphins"
But according to Les Échos, Vishal Garg is already known for his brutal and clumsy managerial practices.
For example, he had already made virulent comments, in an e-mail he sent to the staff, unveiled by the American magazine Forbes, a year ago.
"You are TOO SLOW B ** DEL.
You are a bunch of REMAINING DOLPHINS… SO STOP IT.
STOP IT.
STOP IT RIGHT AWAY.
YOU SHAME ME, ”he wrote.
He also allegedly promised a former business associate to "staple it against a fucking wall and burn it alive."
“This is the second time in my career that I have to do this.
The last time I cried.
I hope to be stronger this time, ”we hear him say this time around during the Zoom meeting.
According to Les Échos, laying off employees via video conferencing is absolutely legal in the United States.
Uber behaved in this way with nearly 3,700 of its employees in May 2020.