Latest troubles at Byju’s, the world’s most-valued edtech startup, have raised concerns among employees about the uncertainty of their jobs and the company’s ability to sustain operations after several rounds of job cuts.
Around a dozen employees of the company said they saw colleagues pack up boxes and leave throughout the week, as Byju’s laid-off another 500-1000 jobs across departments, reported Economic Times.
The auditor and three prominent board members cut ties with the company, raising questions about the company’s financial health and governance practices.
The major concern among the employees was the serial layoffs at the firm from late 2022.
“It is extremely disheartening to see my colleagues leave for good each day. I’ve been trying to look for new opportunities, but all this is very stressful’’, one of the employees said, reported ET.
Staff members said that there is no internal communication from the company regarding business performance, investors leaving the board, loan defaults and delayed financials. One of the employees said that the workload has increased as there are fewer team members, reported ET.
Byju’s has already fired several thousand employees this year due to slowing demand, legal battles with lenders and regulatory scrutiny.
According to a Reuters report, several employees said they received no information about the exits of auditor Deloitte and the board members.
After initially denying the board exits, the company in a statement on Friday said a few investors had vacated their board seats. Peak XV Partners, Prosus, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative confirmed their exits from Byju’s’ board on Friday.
Employees’ performance incentives, bonuses and appraisals had stalled amid the turmoil, reported Reuters.
“Byju’s has created two problems in the talent market. It overpaid without realising that this was not a competitive or realistic salary. And they did not offer people job security,” ET reported quotting Akanksha Malik, founder of Growth360, which helps startups hire mid-to-senior level people.
Malik said she has been getting at least four resumes from Byju’s for any job opening that her firm advertised for over the last four months.
Sanam Rawal, founding partner, MetaMorph, an HR consultancy said employees are finding it very difficult to get the salaries they do at Byju’s
