'If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group': Boss fires 900 employees over Zoom

A company boss reportedly fired 900 employees at the same time on a Zoom call, a week after receiving around £565 million in investment.

Vishal Garg, chief executive of mortgage company Better.com summoned employees to an online meeting on video conferencing app Zoom last Wednesday, CNN reported.

The 43-year-old then announced that the mortgage company would be laying off about 9% of its workforce, before telling the workers present they had lost their jobs.

According to CNN, the company boss said: "If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effective immediately."

He then said employees would be contacted by the company's HR department with details of their redundancy benefits and conditions.

Mr Garg is reported to have said: "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".

The company's chief executive said "performance, productivity, and market efficiency" are the reasons given for the sackings.

In a statement to CNN Business, Better.com's chief financial officer Kevin Ryan said: "Having to conduct layoffs is gut wrenching, especially this time of year".

He added: "However a fortress balance sheet and a reduced and focused workforce together set us up to play offense going into a radically evolving homeownership market."

The news comes just a week after Better.com received about £565 million ($750 million) investment, following a merger.

The company is prepared to have more than $1 billion on its balance sheet.