Byju's Conducts Another Round Of Layoffs: Report

The edtech startup asked some of it's employees, placed under performance reviews, from the mentoring and product expert division to resign.

Byju’s has allegedly asked 400 of it’s employees to put in their papers on Thursday, a report claimed. The edtech firm has once again come in the spotlight for it’s layoffs.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the startup asked more than 400 of it’s employees from the mentoring and product expert division to resign. Allegedly, these employees were placed under a performance review by the company in July.

Byju’s itself confirmed that it let go of only 100 employees, based on their performance review. A Byju’s spokesperson stated, “As part of a periodical performance review, 100 individuals who did not meet expectations after a performance improvement plan, were let go with proper procedures. Please note, this measure is firmly rooted in performance-based considerations and is not in any way a cost-cutting endeavour,” as per the report.

But numerous current and former employees of the company insist that the layoffs range close to 400. Quoting an anonymous source, the report added, “The HR gave a call and informed employees that their email addresses will be deactivated within the next two hours and asked them to download pay slips and other important documents. They were immediately asked to initiate exit on the call with the HR on the line.”

Further, the report claims that the Bengaluru-based company urged the employees to submit voluntary resignations and receive the salary for August and September as their final compensation. The edtech immediately terminated those who refused to comply with this and paid them salary up to August 17 as part of the consequences. An anonymous employee who was included in the layoffs said, “The HR told us that if you choose to be terminated, there will be other consequences. If other companies call us, we are forced to say that the layoff was based on performance,” as quoted by Moneycontrol.

Byju’s has let go of about 5,000 employees since last year. In addition to mass layoffs, delayed appraisals, legal conflicts with lenders, governance issues and overall operational challenges have haunted the startup post-pandemic.