Better.com’s Boss to Employees “Happy Holidays… You’re Fired!”

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Heri za Kwanzaa… or “You're Fired!”

Take your pick… Embrace your most sincere - HOLIDAY - greeting!

And yes, you read that greetings list correctly. “You're Fired!” has been added to this season’s list, that is… according to Better.com’s CEO - Vishal Garg. “You’re Fired!” is now a perfectly acceptable greeting. And not on a small scale, but on a grand, wide scale. Go ahead, address it to the masses; as Garg did last week, when he terminated 900 of his mortgage company’s employees on a single ZOOM call.

“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.” Garg said in a monotone voice.

He went on to say, “The last time I did this, I cried. This time, I hope to be stronger.”

Damn! Ebenezer Scrooge ain’t got nothing on this guy!

What makes this holiday mass layoff even more Scrooge-like is it’s financial timing, coming off the heels of Garg own Christmas Gift - A gift from key investor, Softbank - A gift that came with lots of commas and zeros - A $750 million cash infusion and overall company evaluation / gift of $7 billion.

Gifts from Softbank designed to help Garg’s continue to move forward towards a public offering. Gifts that keep on giving!

Kevin Ryan, Better.com’s Chief Finance Office, attempted a more empathic after the mass layoff, "Having to conduct layoffs is gut-wrenching, especially this time of year.” But quickly forgot the season by adding to the BBC, that having "a fortress balance sheet and a reduced and focused workforce" was necessary to take on the "radically evolving homeownership market".

After sacking 15% of his company in a single ZOOM call, Garg then - according to Fortune’s reporting - accused the employees of "stealing" from their colleagues and customers by being unproductive and only working two hours a day.

Garg-McScrooge has been involved in controversy before, as evidenced by an email intercepted 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.

Ann Franckle, of the United Kingdom’s Chartered Management Institute, correctly criticised the fashion in which Better.com’s employees were fired, "Bad managers will fire people badly whether virtually or in person," she told the BBC's Today program. "But the callous manner in which this was conducted was just magnified by the fact that it was done in this sort of virtual and quite callous style.

I will be curious to watch over the next several months how this Holiday Firing affects Better.com. Will consumers looking to engage the company for mortgage products really care about Garg’s cold-hearted Holiday insensitivity? Will their Christmas cheer carry beyond the New Year or will it come down to the old bottom line - As in money customers might be able to keep in their pockets… Much like the money Garg’s decision saved for his own deep pockets… slash, Christmas Stockings.

Vishal Garg's Christmas Announcement

"Hi everyone, thank you for joining. I come to you with not great news. The market has changed, as you know, and we have to move with it in order to survive so that hopefully we can continue to thrive and deliver on our mission.

"This isn't news that you're going to want to hear but ultimately it was my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me. It's been a really, really challenging decision to make. This is the second time in my career that I'm doing this and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it I cried. This time I hope to be stronger. But we are laying off about 15% of the company for [a number of] reasons: the market, efficiency and performances and productivity.

"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."