Last year, Better.com fired 900 employees via a videoconference gone wrong. Less than a month ago, it laid off another 3,000 employees, about 35% of its remaining workforce.
Now, Better.com is at it again, offering "anyone who wants it" a voluntary separation plan, or 60 days' paid severance and health insurance coverage, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The online mortgage lender is extending the offer to some of its corporate, product development and engineering employees, company executives reportedly announced at a town hall on Tuesday.
One source told TechCrunch that the company is losing "around $50 million a month," according to a recent internal meeting where that was disclosed. Company execs cited the current mortgage markets with rising interest rates and shifting refinancing conditions as reasons for the layoffs.
Better.com CEO Vishal Garg went viral last December for his bungled handling of the company's initial layoffs, which he later apologized for in a letter to employees that was subsequently leaked on Blind. He took a leave of absence after that round of layoffs and was reinstated in January by the company's board, but he's now facing a fraud suit from investors who allege he misused their funds.
“Today we acknowledge that we overhired, and hired the wrong people," Garg said in a leaked video of a meeting discussing the initial layoffs that was obtained by TechCrunch. "And in doing that we failed. I failed. I was not disciplined over the past 18 months. We made $250 million last year, and you know what, we probably pissed away $200 million. We probably could have made more money last year and been leaner, meaner and hungrier.”
In the months since the initial layoffs, the company has lost a flurry of senior execs, including its vice president of Finance, head of Real Estate, head of Sales and general manager of Purchase, all of whom resigned.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE