Better hands out pink slips to over 70 employees

Last week, numerous lenders announced layoffs. Better.com joins the mounting list, with the New York-based company shedding over 70 positions, according to WARN notices filed in California and New York last Friday.

Layoffs impacted 28 employees in New York. Meanwhile, in Alameda County and Orange County 48 positions were terminated in total as of November 4, per WARN notices.

Impacted employees, who note that "morale is incredibly low at the company," say that Better's Charlotte office also experienced reductions.

The layoffs are a reflection of the company's "prudent decisions that account for current market dynamics," a Better spokesperson said in a statement.

But these prudent decisions have left former employees bewildered.

"The company announces that we will be working from home the next day and for us to take our computers," a former Better employee said. " The next day when we try to log in, we can't, because we've been terminated." 

After computers go dark, a manager calls and explains that you're being let go, they said. 

The company is no stranger to eyebrow-raising methods of laying off employees. Last year, Better's CEO Vishal Garg announced via a Zoom call that 900 workers or 9% of its workforce would be let go.

Employees who were handed pink slips last week will receive four weeks of severance pay and their healthcare benefits will be in effect until the end of November. However, former employees have noted that months earlier, employees received longer layoff benefits.

"I'm happy to get severance. I'm not happy with the amount of time," a Better employee impacted by the layoffs said. "During earlier rounds of layoffs people received a couple of months. It's certainly not my fault they're running out of money, I was a contributor in revenue."

Additionally, former employees say that this round — once more — impacted colleagues that were taking, or about to take maternity or paternity leave.

In recent weeks, a former director at Better filed a lawsuit against the lender for allegedly laying him off less than one hour after requesting his previously granted paternity leave begin sooner, following the birth of his daughter.

A late August layoff round impacting 26 workers included 17 people either already on or planning to take maternity or paternity leave in the near future, according to the lawsuit by Ryan Peugh, a former director of management. Better's decision to include Peugh in the reduction in force was made "several days beforehand," a company spokesperson in a statement last week said.

This is at least the fourth layoff round at the lender. Better, which once had a workforce of over 10,000 employees, cut its payroll by 72% in the first six months of the year in several large layoff rounds. The company has also offered voluntary separations to some of its workforce.

Former employees also expressed doubt about the company's intentions of going public via SPAC.

In August, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed that Better and special purpose acquisition company Aurora Acquisition Corp. may kill their merger over 16 months in the making.

"Although Aurora and Better remain committed to completing the Business Combination, Aurora and Better are in discussions regarding alternative financing arrangements for Better pursuant to which the Merger Agreement and related transactions would be terminated and Better would remain a private company," said Aurora in the filing.