BYJU’S, a major player in the edtech industry, terminated 100 employees as part of a performance assessment after placing them on a PIP.
The troubled edtech company’s representative insisted that the decision to fire staff was neither a cost-cutting strategy nor a layoff exercise.
No new layoffs have been announced for the post-sale division… However, 100 people who failed to live up to expectations following a performance improvement plan were fired legally as part of a periodic performance assessment, the spokeswoman said.
The post-sale department at BYJU’S was where the affected employees worked.
The BYJU’S representative continued, “In fact, during the last two months, BYJU’S has hired 200 additional specialists as part of our commitment to expanding this division.
However, according to media sources, the company’s decision had an impact on approximately 400 employees from the mentorship and product expert divisions.
Moneycontrol was the first to report on the development.
The news comes as the edtech behemoth is engaged in a battle on several fronts, including cash flow problems, legal concerns with lenders, multiple rounds of layoffs, board member resignations, valuation markdowns, and delayed financial reporting, among others.
The edtech juggernaut has laid off at least 2,600 workers in the previous six months, including the most recent round of layoffs. According to other media sources, the number may be significantly higher than 5,000, but Inc42 has confirmed this amount.
However, the large debt of the edtech decacorn has lately been restructured, providing some relief. The company is still in contact with the lenders for both its $250 million credit line from Davidson Kempner and its $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB).
BYJU’S issues appear to be largely related to the protracted delay in submitting its financial statements. It has not yet submitted its FY22 financial statements. Its net loss increased to INR 4,588 Cr in FY21. After a lengthy wait, the corporation released its FY21 results in September of last year.
