'I blundered the execution': Boss apologises for firing 900 staff members over Zoom

The boss of a mortgage company has said he is "deeply sorry" for the way in which he fired hundreds of employees at the same time - over a Zoom call.

Vishal Garg, chief executive of US company Better.com summoned employees to an online meeting on video conferencing app Zoom last week.

In alleged footage of the Zoom call, the 43-year-old appears to announce that the mortgage company would be laying off about 15% of its workforce, before telling the workers present they had lost their jobs.

"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 said in footage of the incident.

After the firing drew headlines and social media ire, Mr Garg apologised.

"I own the decision to do the layoffs, but in communicating it I blundered the execution. In doing so, I embarrassed you," he wrote in a letter to staff uploaded to the company's website on Wednesday.

"I realise that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse. I am deeply sorry and am committed to learning from this situation."

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

Mr Garg said "performance, productivity, and market efficiency" are the reasons given for the sackings.

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