Watch: Better.com CEO lays off 900 employees in US, India via Zoom call

'This isn't the news that you're going to want to hear but ultimately it is my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me,' Vishal Garg is heard saying

Ahead of the holiday season, Vishal Garg, the CEO of US-based digital-first homeownership company Better.com, dropped a bombshell via a Zoom call on his 900 employees in the US and in India.

"If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off," Garg reportedly told the staff during the Zoom video call last week, reported CNN Business. "Your employment here is terminated effective immediately."

15 per cent of employees of the New York-headquartered company have lost their jobs as part of the cost-cutting exercise. This is the second round of lay-offs Garg has undertaken, he said.

“This isn’t the news that you’re going to want to hear but ultimately it is my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me. It’s been a really really challenging decision to make. This is the second time in my career I’m doing this and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried,” Garg is heard saying in the clip that is going viral on social media.

Garg, who founded online homeownership company Better.com in 2016, said all US-based employees laid off will get four weeks of severance, one month of full benefits and two months of cover-up for which we will pay the premium. He said they will get an e-mail from the HR detailing the benefits.