Vishal Garg, CEO of financial startup Better.com, took to summon employees over a Zoom call in early December as a means of cost cutting. He announced over the online platform that they were being let go, swiftly to stun them and others now watching the viral video.
"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off," Garg said on the call and to add the shock statement, "Your employment here is terminated effective immediately."
He laid off about 9 per cent of the startup workforce on abruptly informing the 900 employees that they were being terminated just before the upcoming holidays.
Though his words in the call were clear to sigh that it wasn't the first time he was forced to take such a swift decision to cut down the employees from the company's list. He also admitted that the previous time when he took such a stance left him in tears empathizing with employees who were laid off.
"This is the second time in my career I'm doing this and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried," Garg said on the call.
Watch the video here:
According to CNN Business, 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 in the copy.
Several reports mention quoting the CEO that 15 percent of employees of the New York-headquartered company have lost their jobs as part of the cost-cutting exercise. This is the second round of lay-offs Garg has undertaken, he said.
