Edtech leader Byju's delayed the settlement timeline for it’s sacked employees to November 17, according to an email received by the employees. The company said that it will clear the full and final settlement dues owed to laid-off employees soon as it is going through "difficult business restructuring".
"We regret and acknowledge the delays in settling dues of former employees," a Byju's spokesperson said, as reported by Business Standard. The spokesperson added, “As we work through a difficult business restructuring, we are committed to meeting all our obligations as soon as possible.”
The spokesperson further said that according to the revised schedule outlined in the email, employees should receive their pending payments by November 17, as opposed to the previous deadline of September 15. "The full and final settlement amount will be released by 17 November 2023," said a person related to the matter.
Earlier this year, Byju's terminated the employment of approximately 1,000 workers as part of restructuring. The report quoted anonymous sources within the company who said that this action was in line with the "optimisation" plan announced by the startup last year, which included the dismissal of 2,500 employees.
Notably, the report cited sources and added that the company decided to offer two of its critical assets, Epic and Great Learning, for sale, to generate $800 million to $1 billion in cash to complete it’s various commitments.
Earlier this month, news reports suggested that Byju’s offered a surprise repayment proposal to lenders, which entailed the repayment of its entire $1.2 billion term loan in less than six months. This proposal, pending clearance and approval from lenders, also stated that the company will repay $300 million of the total debt within three months, and the remaining amount in the subsequent three months.
Founder Byju Raveendran, undertook the five-year loan in 2021 to help the company expand outside India.
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