Why is there Better.com layoffs in 2023? A Digital Mortgage Lender, Better.com, bought into the limelight in 2021 when the company’s CEO, Vishal Garg, laid off hundreds of its workforce through a Zoom call. Again in 2022, he decided to conduct its fourth round of layoffs that targeted thousands of employees along with numerous company senior executives.
According to sources, it is reported that a couple of years ago, In December, the CEO, Vishal Garg laid off over 900 workers through videoconference. After laying off employees, he locked out their systems, and it became disseminated worldwide.
Due to this, he was criticized widely and took time off from the company. Later, he came back again in January 2022.
In March 2022, The company announced that it would offer severance packages to some of its better.com workers before declaring that they were fired. The company was putting effort into streamlining its operating business. Due to this, it declared that thousands of its workforce were laid off.
On March 8, 2022, Better.com announced it laid off 3,000 or approx 1/3 of its workforce. Later, In June 2022, better.com was alleged by a former senior executive.
The company filed a lawsuit, alleging that it was trying to go public. Due to this, they manipulated and misguided investors and other representatives in its financial filings.
After that incident, the company was left by its three senior executives. Last year, In August, the firm announced its fourth round of layoffs in which 250 or more employees were set to be laid off across the country.
This information was insider news of the company.
But it got leaked. Later, the employees who disclosed the layoff information were terminated.
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About Better.com
Better Holdco, Inc., known as Better.com or Better, was established in 2014 by Vishal Garg (the Chief executive officer).
It is an American organization, and its very first business was established in 2016 by the name “Better Mortgage.”
The company operates online businesses for mortgage origination and several other related services.
After establishing its first business in 2016, the company added several other subsidiaries to real estate, homeowners’ insurance services, and title.
Better.com is headquartered in Lower Manhattan at 3 World Trade Center.
It made 4 billion U.S. dollars secured in 2020. Novator and Softbank support better Holdco, Inc.
Better.com Operations
Better.com received leads from personal finance organizations, including NerdWallet and Credit Karma, to get more customers.
It also sold out mortgages to secondary mortgage investors.
Walls Fargo and Fannie Mae were among the company’s 30 secondary mortgage investors.
Better.com Incorporation and Development
Several years ago, the company’s CEO, Vishal Garg, and his wife shared their experience when they obtained a mortgage to get their home.
They had a negative experience at that time. It led to the company’s culmination. In 2014, Better.com was incorporated as Better Holdco, Inc by the CEO.
After two years of the company’s establishment, in 2016, Better launched Better Mortgage in Series A funding, and around 30 million U.S. dollars were secured in Series A funding.
It was approved to be a Fannie Mae servicer in 2016.
2017 Better secured 15 million U.S. dollars in Series B funding with several other investors. Kleiner Perkins, Goldman Sachs, and Pine Brook Partners were the investors. In 2018, better.com introduced Better Settlement Services and Better Real Estate (additional company subsidiaries).
In 2019, the company introduced its fourth subsidiary, Better Cover. In Series C funding, the fourth part of the company raised around 160 million U.S. dollars by Activant Capital.
In April of the same year, Ally Home decided to establish its platform for the digital mortgage. To do so, they partnered with Better.com and greatly contributed to the Series C funding.
In 2019, Better Holdco, Inc. aided many people from underrepresented groups who wanted to buy homes. Their dream of buying homes became true through the Better.com mortgage lending platform.
In 2020, Series D funding was led by L Catterton, which raised nearly 200 million U.S. dollars. A year later, better.com resulted in a 6 billion U.S. dollars valuation after boosting an extra 500 million U.S. dollars from Softbank (a Japanese Investment Conglomerate).
Later, the company gripped and gained popularity for its immediate practices and rise. A couple of years ago, In May, the company decided to go public with its SPAC merger. It will be combined with Aurora Acquisition Corp by the end of the year 2021.
In 2021, a UK-based digital mortgage broker, Trussle, was acquired by Better.com. Additionally, the company acquired a London-based crowdfunding platform, Property Partner.
The company got 750 million U.S. dollars as a cash infusion when it agreed with its backers, i.e., SoftBank and Aurora Acquisition Corp. Better.com aimed to go public via a SPAC merger; the deadline was August 2022, which was delayed.
Then, the company’s deadline was supposed to be fulfilled by March 2023.
How Many People Are Laid Off From Better.com?
The Digital Mortgage company, Better.com laid off around 900 of its workforce in 2021 via Zoom call.
The series of laying off employees was not quit, and it again laid off approx 2,000 employees a year later, in March.
In April 2022, the company fired around 1,000 workers.
Moreover, the fourth round of layoffs was also announced by the company. It affected all the departments.
According to reports, it was noted that the list of employees who were decided to lay off in the fourth round was scheduled to be released on August 26.
But it was disclosed by the employees on August 23, 2022.
Employees who unveiled the information outside the company were laid off immediately before their termination dates.
In 2022, how many employees were laid off in the fourth round of layoff was kept secret.
But one of the impacted employees of the company stated “There were 250 or more employees who were affected in this wave of layoff, and all may be US-based employees”.
Another impacted employee stated, “It appeared that the company laid off higher corporate salaries employees in this fourth wave of layoffs.”
Why Is Better.com Laying Off Employees?
Why? Whenever it comes to layoffs, discontinuation, recall, or anything else.
The first question that comes to everyone’s mind is, Why is this happening? Right…
Here we’ve shared several possible reasons for the company’s employees lay off…
One of the spokespeople for Better.com stated, “We want to settle to market dynamics and continue to give the best service to our customers in the long run. To do so, we make these crucial decisions to adjust to the market trend.”
Also added, “Moreover, we quit squandering money after carefully considering the company’s policies and all… After looking at those, we decided to cut all those areas for the betterment of the company. This way, we’ll better line up with the market dynamics and industry standards.”
According to sources, it is believed that the layoff decision was made to protect and to make the company more productive and smarter for the future.
In May 2022, Better.com’s India-based employees were allowed to leave.
That time the company’s CEO stated, “I am committed to everything to the entirety of what I have and will ever have. On my 50th birthday, five years ago, one of the company’s investors gave a SoftBank loan of 750 million U.S. dollars, came.”
He continued to say, “Well, at that time, I owe nothing, and I think we’ll have given it a real shot. I took the responsibility of three-quarters of a billion dollars for which I am responsible.”
One of the reports stated, “The mortgage interest rates boosted along with a challenging macro environment that hit Better.com and several other mortgage organizations hard.”
What Does Better.com Do?
Better.com, an American company, is an online platform for mortgage and related services worldwide.
It is a direct lender that offers mortgage financing online; it provides borrowers with options such as:
- Jumbo Loans
- Refinancing Loans
- Conventional Loans
- Fixed Rate Mortgages
- Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Let’s put light on the company’s pros and cons:
PROS:
- From the three major credit bureaus, if the borrower has a minimum 620 credit score, they can qualify.
- Borrowers can apply for mortgage services via an online platform, as the lender has a completely online application program.
- The borrowers have charged no origination fee to get a loan.
CONS:
- Better.com will provide no Home Equity and FHA loans.
- Moreover, Better.com does not provide loan services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.).
The company provides loan services to more than 46 states and Washington, D.C.
But the services are unavailable in Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Hawaii.
Better.com Layoffs 2023 – Wrapping Up
We’ve concluded that Better.com, an online mortgage provider platform, has announced several layoffs since 2021.
The number of laid-off employees varies in every wave of layoff, but in the fourth wave, it needed to be clarified how many people were affected.
Still, people were anticipating and stated that all the laid-off employees were from the U.S. side in the fourth round of layoffs.
Better.com provides digital mortgage applications and hybrid e-closings that allow people to sign online documents.
One can be able to apply for a loan before its approval online.
Customers can make the most of the company’s customer service team for any query related to Better.com and its services, as they have access to a loan officer.