logoalt Hacker News

CEO who fired 900 people on Zoom just before Christmas wants his job back

47 pointsby pseudolustoday at 7:36 PM15 commentsview on HN

Comments

xyzelementtoday at 8:59 PM

Former employee (though not part of that famous round of layoff)

The noise around Zoom firing was ridiculous. We were a largely remote company with most people having never been to the office (I don't think I had, at that moment) so how exactly do you lay off people except remotely? VG didn't do a great job there but the idea of doing it remotely being evil or whatever was ridiculous - should the people be flown in to NY just to get fired?

Overall I find VG a flawed but reasonable dude. He definitely put his ass on the line for the business, was generous with equity - and was a pretty engaged leader. I don't think much about my time at Better but it was fine.

show 7 replies
jazzpush2today at 7:46 PM

You read this from the outside and ask yourself, "how does this guy sleep at night?". He sleeps fine, of course, justifying his own actions/behaviors without thinking of others.

Luigi Mangione spent months trying to contact someone at United Healthcare to no avail. Only when he pretended to be an investor managing a large number of assets did he hear a response.

show 3 replies
tolugeniustoday at 8:42 PM

> Garg acknowledges he’s “hard-nosed” and the famous Zoom layoffs severely damaged the company’s reputation — a mistake he knows will continue to haunt him. But as criticized as Garg has been for placing near-impossible demands on the company and its employees, he said Lewis convinced the board he didn’t push hard enough.

> So when shareholders said, ‘You need to take a back seat,’ I complied.”

Man shocked to learn the evolution of shareholder value did not, in fact value him.

aleph_minus_onetoday at 9:00 PM

Great irony: the names under which the company which Vishal Garg was CEO of (Better Home & Finance Holding Company) does business are Better and Better.com [1]. :-)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better.com

happytoexplaintoday at 9:05 PM

In my humble opinion, he is representative of an evil that is creeping into corporate America. Don't get me wrong: It was always "evil" by some definition, but not like this. It's becoming a cartoon version of "American business". It's like the people in leadership positions increasingly think that running a business consists of yelling at your direct reports until things are done, and sucking up to your superiors, and that's the whole job description.

nemomarxtoday at 8:54 PM

> says he was fired on August 3 just as he brought the company to the precipice of success.

> Today, with an imploded refi business and rates closing in on 7%, the AI mortgage company’s market value stands at just $300 million.

Forgive the snipping here, but is the company actually turning around or on the brink of success now? Is there any sign the firings helped them 8 months later?

show 1 reply
mrhottakestoday at 7:43 PM

Leopard who eats faces surprised to find out other leopard ate his face.

blitzartoday at 9:06 PM

It doesn't work like that bud.

People (you) fired don't get their jobs back because they say "they were doing a great job".

Ancalagontoday at 8:54 PM

wow I forgot about about this company and this fiasco

time to forget about it again

bdangubictoday at 7:55 PM

he should get his job back around black friday with enough time for another firing round at Christmas time