Employees of Byju’s may have expected layoffs and may even have been mentally prepared for the same given the financial mess that the edtech startup has been dealing with for some time now. However, the manner in which some of the employees were terminated in the latest round has rattled them. Not only were they not allowed to serve a notice period or the opportunity to undergo a performance improvement plan (PIP), but they were laid off over a phone call.
Money Control reports that the termination process was sudden and immediate, with one employee, who tried to record the call, being blocked by the HR executive who made the call. He had already been told that that was his last working day, and that his name was on the list of employees to be let go that had been shared by the management. The employees were reportedly not given any reason for the termination, which led to speculations that it could be because of the inability to meet targets or because they belonged to a certain pay band.
The phone calls are being followed up by emails asking the affected employees to hand over all the property that was assigned to them by the company so that their full and final settlement can be processed. This round of layoffs has had maximum impact on the members of the sales team.
It is expected that in this latest round of terminations at least 100 will be affected, and the number may even go up to 500.
Earlier, the processing of salaries in February was delayed multiple times due to the funds raised through the rights issue (special stock sale) being kept in a separate account as per the request of some important investors. The total amounted to approximately $250-$300 million. At the time, Raveendran, founder and CEO, Byju’s, had written to over 20,000 employees, expressing regret and citing challenges in processing salaries due to capital shortages and the delay despite available funds.
Byju’s has let go at least 10,000 employees over a period of two years amidst a funds crunch.
