Simplilearn, the edtech startup based in Bengaluru, has let go 200 team members, based on their performance. Most of those impacted belong to the sales team, along with some from the marketing and operations teams.
The layoffs began last week starting with the vice president rank.
The impacted employees are still wondering how they could have been terminated because of their performance issues when no performance evaluation had taken place at all. They were simply summoned by the HR and personally told that they are being terminated, without any warning.
The company, however, maintains that the business is progressing just as planned and even hiring is happening wherever required. As per the firm, terminations based on performance are not unknown or new at the startup.
Having received funding from Blackstone in the first half of 2021, Simplilearn had been strategically using the finance to enhance its workforce and marketing. Maximum hiring had taken place in the product, tech and marketing teams. In fact, by June 2022, its tech team had grown from 60 to 200. In 2022, it had expanded its team by about 800.
In fact, in June last year, Krishna Kumar, founder, Simplilearn had revealed that as part of the expansion plan, in India and abroad, the company would be making substantial investments in its workforce by the end of 2022.
However, the year 2023 saw many edtech startups facing funding challenges, with several resorting to downsizing in order to stay profitable.
