Byju’s has allegedly forced 170 employees to resign after the Indian edtech firm decided to stop operations at its Technopark Trivandrum office without notice, TechnoparkToday said in a LinkedIn post. The affected staff members were reportedly made to leave without compensation.
Byju’s office / Source: Glassdoor
Prathidhwani, a welfare cooperative for tech employees, has already brought the issue up with India’s labor minister, Sri V Sivankutty, seeking a revised exit policy from the firm.
A Byju’s spokesperson told Tech in Asia that the company has offered the entire Trivandum team an opportunity to transfer to Bengaluru, giving them more than a month to decide.
“If they choose to not use this opportunity, we have made available a generous and progressive exit package to them, including extended health insurance benefits, outplacement services, and garden leave. This package even includes an assured opportunity to be rehired by Byju’s within the next 12 months at any operational center across India,” the spokesperson said.
The employees have asked for the labor minister’s help to make sure the edtech giant compensates them with salaries for October, a one-time settlement of salary for three months from November to January 31, 2023, encashment for all earned leaves, and a full settlement of variable pay.
The news comes after Byju’s announced a 5% cut to its total workforce earlier this month, letting go of 2,500 employees.
In its bid to reach profitability by March 2023, the firm is combining several units and making a number of staff in its product, content, media, and tech teams redundant.
A few days later, the firm raised US$250 million in funding.
See also: The $22b question on Byju’s valuation
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Arpit Nayak
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