Better.com boss takes time off after laying off 900 employees

“If you’re on this conversation, you’re part of the unfortunate group being laid off,” Garg said at the December 1 webinar. “Your employment here has ended, with immediate effect,” he told them.

Garg’s leave is also applicable immediately, according to a Friday email from the company’s board. The day-to-day operations will be taken over by the company’s CFO, Kevin Ryan. Better.com added that it is hiring a third-party company to conduct a “leadership and culture assessment”, whose recommendations “will be taken into account to build a long-term sustainable and positive culture at Better.”

CNN Business has looked at the email and has asked Better.com for comment.

“The recommendations from this assessment will be taken into account in order to build a long-term sustainable and positive culture at Better,” the email states.

The online loan company’s mass redundancy affected approximately 9% of the employees. Just days later, three of the company’s top communications managers pulled up, according to several media reports.

In a later post on the professional network Blind, Garg accused the fired employees of “stealing” from his colleagues and customers by being unproductive and only working two hours a day, according to Fortune, which confirmed these feelings in a later interview with the CEO . .

In a letter dated December 7 addressed to the Better.com team, Garg apologized for the way he handled the layoffs, and for making “a difficult situation worse.” He added, “I was unable to show the appropriate amount of respect and gratitude to the individuals affected and for their contributions to Better,” the letter said. “I own the decision to lay off, but when I communicated it, I was wrong in the execution. By doing so, I embarrassed you.”

CNN’s Moira Ritter contributed to this report.