900 employees made redundant via a videoconference call

A few weeks before Christmas, the boss of an American company summoned 900 of his employees, during a videoconference, of which he did not specify the purpose. From the start of the call, the director gets straight to the point, and declares that the payroll must be reduced by 15%. “If you are in this call, then you are in the unlucky group”, can we hear on a recording filmed by one of the participants. The dismissal took effect immediately, causing the employees to misunderstand. “I’m going to have to call my wife. My children are in a private school, I have five”, testifies one of the people made redundant.

The founder of this company specializing in online home loans in the United States is already known for his controversial methods in the world of work. In some e-mail exchanges, he treated his employees as “stupid dolphins” and even threatened his former partner to burn him alive. This way of laying off workers is not a first in American companies. Uber laid off 3,500 administrative workers suddenly during a video conference call last year.