A Note From Better interim President and Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Ryan and the Better Management Team
Mar 8, 2022
Team,
We have an important and difficult announcement today, and the leadership team and I want you to hear it from us first.
As you know, the residential real estate market has been changing rapidly, and our entire industry is facing a dramatic drop in origination volume due to rising interest rates. It is clear – after careful, comprehensive review – that we will need to do more to ensure a strong path forward for the company and the vital work we are all doing to make homeownership more accessible for everyone.
Unfortunately, that means we must take the difficult step of streamlining our operations further and reducing our workforce in both the U.S. and India in a substantial way. We have huge opportunities ahead to grow and to serve, but we must adjust to volatility in the interest rate environment and refinancing market to get there successfully. This decision is driven heavily by the headwinds affecting the residential real estate market; it is in no way a reflection on the personal performance of any departing team members, all of whom have contributed to Better’s success. While it does not make this any easier other companies across the mortgage industry (both old and new) have had to make similar decisions over the last 2 months.
Across functions, specialties and offices, we have an incredibly talented team at Better, and losing valued colleagues is never something we wish to pursue. We do not take this decision lightly and want to let you know about the important steps we are taking in the coming days to support the transition for coworkers leaving Better. We are also taking steps to ensure seamless service for our customers.
All Affected Employees Will Be Contacted Personally
We are doing everything possible to personally reach all employees whose jobs will be eliminated to discuss this with them first. Anyone most directly affected by this announcement should receive a call over the coming days from a member of the Better leadership team. We will direct these communications to the personal phone and email we have on file. Following that call, each affected employee will receive an email to their personal email address from HR with additional details about transition support.
Better Will Be Providing Severance Payments to All Departing Employees
Affected employees will be eligible for a minimum of 60 working days – and as much as 80 working days – of cash severance payments. We have made sure that this financial support for departing employees is at or beyond what is required by law. Those affected directly by this change will receive details via email.
All Departing Employees Will Receive Extended Medical Benefits
To help ensure continuity of medical benefits, Better will extend health insurance coverage in the U.S. for affected employees through the month of March and will then provide three months of continued COBRA coverage for which the company will pay the premiums.
We Will Be Providing a Suite of Services to Help Departing Employees Find Their Next Professional Home
This is an extraordinary team at Better, and we are intensely focused on setting up opportunities to help ensure that departing employees quickly find great, new professional homes. To this end:
- We have partnered with Randstad RiseSmart, a global leader in career transition support, to provide dedicated, one-to-one assistance for resume and candidate branding services, career coaching, job concierge search and support services, and personalized job and networking opportunities, based on individual employee goals and preferences.
- In addition, departing employees will have 24/7 access to RiseSmart’s extensive online job support portal, which includes networking templates, assessment tools and video interview training, access to 6500+ recruiters and invitations to webinars and virtual career events
- We have also partnered with RiseSmart to identify and connect departing employees directly to leading employers who are actively hiring.
- Over the next few weeks, we also will unveil the Better Talent Directory, a public directory and resource for recruiters that departing employees can voluntarily opt-in to showcase their talents proactively to leading employers.
- We also will be encouraging all Better team members to use their own social media channels to help spread the word about these talented employees. More to come on this.
Based on each employee's individual circumstances and to the extent allowed, we do not expect to enforce existing non-compete provisions. Non-disclosure provisions will remain in effect. As a financial services company, financial, legal and security best practices for our industry require most of these separations from the company to happen immediately. In addition, while we inherently trust our departing colleagues, we are required to shut off their access to internal systems and emails given industry regulations regarding access to sensitive consumer information.
This has not been an easy few months, and I want to express my sincere thanks to every member of the Better team for your hard work and focus and for continuing to take such great care of our customers and each other. Every one of us, those leaving and those remaining, have played a critical role in building Better. Our strongest days lie ahead.
For team members whose positions are not affected directly by these changes, I appreciate that you may need space to discuss these developments and ask questions, and we remain committed to being as transparent about this process as possible. That said, we ask for your patience today, as our leaders’ first priority is speaking with and supporting our departing colleagues.
After those conversations are complete, we will be setting aside additional time to connect. Look for a calendar invite later today for team meetings tomorrow that will be led by your functional heads to talk about today’s announcement and any changes to team structures and goals. Paula and I will address everyone at Better directly before we break into functional town halls.
Over the next few weeks, the management team will take you through our 2022 strategy and our strategy beyond 2022 to continue executing on our mission and vision and the steps we are taking to build a truly integrated homeownership platform.
I hope you will join me in thanking colleagues who will be leaving Better for all of their contributions and letting your networks know about these talented professionals. We have an even stronger future ahead creating opportunities for homebuyers, and I remain deeply grateful for your continued collaboration, dedication and great work.
Sincerely
Kevin and the Better Management Team