Better.com Employees Learned of Layoffs When Severance Checks Appeared In Payroll App
The mass layoffs at digital mortgage lender Better.com have reportedly started, according to employees and other sources at the company, and affected workers are finding out by seeing a severance check in their Workday account -- the company's payroll app. TechCrunch's Mary Ann Azevedo reports: The layoffs were meant to be announced by the company on March 9, but one employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous due to fear of repercussions -- told TechCrunch that "they accidentally rolled out the severance payslips too early." Better.com execs reportedly planned the layoffs for March 8 but moved the date to March 9 when news of the initial date leaked. Apparently, when execs realized their mistake, they deleted the checks from some people's Workday accounts. According to the employee, the severance checks arrived without any additional communication from the company. The employee told me: "Better Layoffs have started. Severance showing in our Workday app (which is payroll) as of 12 AM respective time zones. No email, no call, nothing. This was handled disgustingly." The employee -- who had an inkling that the cuts were coming -- added: "Leadership remained absolutely silent, never acknowledged anything in regards to layoffs. They still haven't." An estimated 3,000 of the company's 8,000 employees in the U.S. and India are being let go. It is notable that the missive came from [CFO Kevin Ryan] and not CEO Vishal Garg, who suffered severe backlash after laying off 900 employees during a Zoom meeting in early December in what many considered to be a cold and callous manner. The video went viral globally and Garg was vilified not only for the way he notified employees, but for what employees described as verbally abusive behavior. [...] Ryan wrote that the company "had to adjust to volatility in the interest rate environment and refinancing market." He added: "Unfortunately, that means we must take the difficult step of streamlining our operations further and reducing our workforce in both the U.S. and India in a substantial way. This has not been an easy few months, and I want to express my sincere thanks to every member of the Better team for your hard work and focus," he added. "Our strongest days lie ahead."
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