Vishal Garg Obligated to Take Time Off from Better.com

The online lender Better.com, along with its CEO Vishal Garg, have been facing intense scrutiny in recent days. During the initial week of this month, Garg gathered 900 employees in a single Zoom call and, within a brief three-minute statement, announced their termination. Following this incident, Garg took to the social platform Blind to accuse the terminated employees of “misconduct” by not putting in the expected hours of work for their pay.

The dismissal of 900 employees, comprising approximately 9% of Better.com’s workforce, including some top performers, has not been well received by the remaining staff. The decision to cut such a significant segment of the workforce, especially one that was contributing to the company’s success, has resulted in backlash from both the online community and the employees. Several members of Better.com’s management team, including individuals in marketing, public relations, and communications roles, have since resigned from their positions.

https://t.co/cxofmffylA CEO Vishal Garg steps back as employees detail how he ‘led by fear’ https://t.co/rC1pEuyIeD by @bayareawriter

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) December 10, 2021

In an attempt to mitigate the ongoing damage, the executive board of Better.com has made the decision to place Garg on leave effective immediately for an unspecified duration. A memo obtained by Vice, authored by Paula Tuffin, the company’s chief compliance officer and general counsel, states, “We have much work to do, and we hope that everyone can refocus on serving our customers and supporting each other in building an exceptional company that we can all take pride in.”

During Garg’s absence, operational responsibilities will be overseen by the Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Ryan.