Byju’s, the edtech platform, has been trying to streamline operations, cut costs and improve profitability for some time now. As part of its attempts, the company has decided to let go at least 500 employees. The number may well be 1,000, but official figures are yet to be revealed. It appears the company has let go about 3,500 employees from its workforce till now.
About 10 days ago, Byju’s was reportedly considering axing about 1,000 jobs amidst a financial crisis. At the time, it was said that the sales and marketing teams would bear the brunt of the cuts. This time, reports indicate that members of the content division have been asked to put in their papers voluntarily. There are also reports that post the quarterly evaluation, almost half of the sales team is now part of a performance improvement plan or PIP. The impact of this round of layoffs will reportedly be seen in the business development, products and technology departments too.
Earlier this year, over 1,000 people were asked to leave from the engineering division, which reduced the workforce size by 15 per cent.
Byju’s also bagged headlines recently, when it failed to make a quarterly interest payment of around $40 million on a $1.2 billion term loan B. The company, which has been accused of defaulting on payments, later took legal action against its lender, Redwood Investment Management, filing a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court. Byjus has not only stopped payments to the lender but has called their approach predatory’.
