4,000 employees will reportedly lose their jobs at Better.com, an online mortgage lender, as it plans to lay off 50% of its current 8,000 staff. This was according to certain sources that were reportedly "familiar with internal happenings" within the company.
Better.com Next Round of Layoffs to Happen on March 9
According to the story by TechCrunch, the initial report regarding upcoming layoffs started on Feb. 18, which is just three months after the company decided to lay off 9% of its staff through a Zoom call that went viral.
The move led to a significant number of top executives deciding to resign after a stream of bad publicity affected the reputation of the company.
Mar. 9, according to the report, will be the date when Better.com will be laying off another batch of employees. It is, however, noted that this date is not the one initially decided on. It was moved to this date due to executives being unhappy about leaks regarding the layoffs.
4,000 Employees Could Lose Their Jobs
The company's upcoming layoffs well directly affect 4,000 people. Most of them are said to have sales and operation roles.
In addition, it has also been noted that Better.com's employees are not just those employed in the United States. The company has employed workers from India as well.
Better.com has decided to pivot towards more of a "purchase" business that focuses on helping clients with their new loans. On top of this, due to the massive PR bomb following the viral Zoom firing, the company has been struggling to grow its consumer base.
900 Workers Laid Off in Viral Zoom Incident
Other macroeconomic factors have had a negative impact towards the business of the company. These factors include increased interest rates leading to a drop in refinancing demands. This eventually led to the viral 900-worker layoffs in December, as reported by Independent.co.uk.
As interest rates start to rise, the rise in inflation is also not helping improve the different concerns of the company. The most impacted by the changes, however, include "nearly 5,000 employees" who will be losing their jobs in the span of a few months.
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Will Better.com Push Through With Its SPAC?
Co-founder and CEO Vishal Garg is still in charge of the coming after having taken a month-long break after the viral Zoom call layoffs. In addition, there is still no word as to whether the company will push through with its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). According to TechCrunch, it would be surprising if the company did so.
In 2021, TechCrunch reported that the valuation of Better.com would be at about $6.9 billion. The publication, however, notes that the company's valuation could be "dramatically lower today."
After raising $900 million during its inception in 2016 with $500 million coming from SoftBank in a more recent April 2021 round, Better.com was valued at a whopping $6 million. This, however, was before the viral layoffs were initially announced.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
