Byju's: Kerala govt officials to meet edtech company today over laying off employees
2 min read . Updated: 02 Nov 2022, 07:54 AM IST
PremiumByju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran apologised to the company's employees for the layoffs.
The Kerala government will meet with officials from Byju's on November 2 to discuss the ‘forced resignation’ of 170 employees. The Kerala labour department officials had previously scheduled a meeting for October 25. However, Byju's chose not to take part, citing short notice. The company is laying off 2,500 employees or 5% of the staff strength.
On October 25, some of Byju's employees approached Kerala Labour Commissioner K Vasuki. They asserted that a verbal request for a forced resignation had been made by the company. According to media sources, Byju's addressed the staff and offered them relocation to either Kochi or Bengaluru in order to reduce expenses and restructure for profitable growth.
Byju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran apologised to the company's employees for the layoffs at India's largest education technology company, claiming that 2,500 job cutbacks were necessary to eliminate role duplication and reduce redundancies.
Raveendran claimed in a statement to staff members that, due to unfavourable macroeconomic variables, Byju's had been forced to concentrate on sustainability and capital-efficient growth. He said that the layoffs broke his heart.
"I seek your forgiveness if this process is not as smooth as we had intended it to be. While we want to finish this process smoothly and efficiently, we don't want to rush through it," he wrote to his employees.
"I realize that there is a huge price to pay for walking on this path to profitability. I am truly sorry to those who will have to leave Byju's," he added.
While minimising redundancies, unifying its subsidiaries into one India business and focusing on sustainable growth and profitability, Byju's said earlier in October that it would fire 2,500 workers over the course of six months.
In defending the decision, Raveendran said that Byju's had rapidly and significantly expanded globally during the previous four years, including through acquisitions.
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less