January 1, Tech Boss Apologizes for Firing 900 Employees on Zoom Call

A tech company CEO apologized to 900 staff members he laid off via a three-minute Zoom conference call, saying he “blundered.”

Better.com CEO Vishal Garg kicked off last week’s ill-fated Zoom meeting by saying, “I come to you with not great news.”

“If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off,” he said. “Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”

A former employee told NBC News his company-issued computer went dark shortly after the meeting ended, adding that he didn’t receive a call from human resources until hours later. 

“I was sitting here thinking, ‘What the hell?'” the unidentified employee said. 

Garg wrote a letter to employees, saying that while he stands by the layoffs, he “blundered the execution. In doing so, I embarrassed you.”

“I realize that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse. I am deeply sorry and am committed to learning from this situation and doing more to be the leader that you expect me to be.”

A few days before the mass firing, Better.com received a $750 million cash infusion ahead of going public.

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Better.com CEO apologizes to remaining staff for mass layoffs over Zoom