Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Better.com has conducted mass layoffs twice over the past four months. The company bungled a mass layoff twice.
Better.com laid off about 900 employees via a video call that went viral. It was not the first company to lay people off during a global epidemic. It was the way in which it was handled that offended so many.
Vishal Garg was criticized for being cold and unfeeling. He added insult to injury by accusing the workers of stealing from their colleagues and customers.
Kevin Ryan sent an email to employees saying that the company would have $1 billion on its balance sheet by the end of the week. Garg apologized and took a month-long break after the layoffs.
The company accidentally laid off an estimated 3,000 employees in the US and India on March 8. When execs realized they had made a mistake, they deleted the checks from some people's Workday accounts. The employee who wanted to remain anonymous said that the checks arrived without any communication from the company.
We can all agree that Better.com could have handled the incidents better. Even though layoffs are hard no matter the circumstance, they are sometimes necessary in times like these when startup companies are looking to control cash consumption and attract new capital. We spoke to three HR experts who gave us some advice on how to make a layoff less painful.
Lisa Calick, director of HR Advisory Services at Wiss and Company, said of Better.com's handling of the situation, "This is an example to all companies of what not to do."
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