A Zoom call for layoffs? Talking Tech podcast
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Hey there listeners, it's Brett Molina. Welcome back to Talking Tech. Zoom of course has been a huge benefit to all of us, not to mention all the other tools that we use to video conference online, whether it's with friends or family or with colleagues that we're using during work.
There have also been a lot of instances of Zoom gone wrong. Here is the most recent one. The CEO of online mortgage company Better.com, Vishal Garg, recently apologized in a letter to employees after he says he, "Blundered the process of informing workers of layoffs."
This was after footage of his Zoom call was made available on social media and shared with different news reports that show him basically letting go of a swath of employees on a Zoom call. The video that's available on YouTube, and it's available within my story... You can read it on tech.usatoday.com.
He's sitting in a conference room, sitting at a conference table, and he's giving this talk about not great news that he wants to share, and he talks about layoffs and he drops this quote. Here we go. "If you are on this call you are part of the unlucky group being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effectively immediately."
Of course there was swift backlash. There have been reports that executives from Better.com have left the company since this has happened. Then we have this letter from the Better.com CEO apologizing, "I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better."
An employee talked with CNN as well about this experience and it's a fascinating story. He basically was on this all and heard this announcement. Then when he was trying to get into a company Slack channel just to find out what happened he lost communication with everything. He lost his email and his phone and everything else soon after. So as he explains, it's a surreal moment.
Earlier this month there was a report that Better.com had confirmed layoffs of about 9% of its staff, or about 900 people. We've reached out to representatives at Better.com to confirm details of the layoffs and also some other information. I'll update my story the second it's available. Be sure to go to tech.usatoday.com for the latest on this.
Listeners, let's hear from you. If you have any comments, questions or show ideas, any tech problems you want us to try to address, you can find me on Twitter @brettmolina23. Please don't forget to subscribe and rate us or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, anywhere you get your podcasts.
You've been listening to Talking Tech. We'll be back tomorrow with another quick hit from the world of tech.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A Zoom call for layoffs? Talking Tech podcast
