Amid turmoil, BYJU’S employees acknowledge low morale: Report

Amid the recent turmoil at BYJU’S, employees—whose jobs were on the line due to multiple rounds of job cuts at the edtech major—are now further troubled, according to a media report.

Late Friday evening, Peak XV Partners' GV Ravishankar, Prosus's Russell Dreisenstock, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Vivian Wu—three key board members of BYJU'S—officially resigned from the board of the edtech firm.

BYJU'S, currently dealing with the repercussions of its auditor's resignation and facing legal battles concerning a $1.2-billion term loan B (TLB), initially refuted reports about the resignation of three board members. However, on Friday, the company acknowledged that "a few investors had to vacate the board seat."

With the firm juggling increasing losses, layoffs, and pending loans after the end of the pandemic-led boom, a Reuters report revealed that employees at BYJU’S are experiencing low morale, leading many to actively seek alternative job opportunities out of fear of unexpected job losses. 

Adding to their worries is the lack of communication from the edtech company's leadership regarding the recent departures of the board members, and the exit of Deloitte as BYJU’S and Aakash’s statutory auditor, the report noted.

This absence of communication has further intensified concerns and contributed to a pervasive sense of unease among some employees, as per the report.

YourStory has reached out to BYJU'S with detailed queries. This story will be updated to reflect the company's response.

Also Read

All that has gone wrong at BYJU’S

Earlier this week, BYJU'S initiated another round of job cuts, people familiar with the development told YourStory. According to a source close to the company, the workforce reduction move will impact more than 1,000 people.

A Moneycontrol report noted that the edtech firm’s fresh round of layoffs will impact employees across departments like mentoring, logistics, training, sales, post-sales, and finance. 

Last week, BYJU’S' HR team conducted individual meetings with employees from these departments, and following the discussions, employees were asked to voluntarily resign through the official HR portal, the report added.

These layoffs are a part of BYJU's cost-cutting efforts that the edtech firm has been undertaking since last year. In February, BYJU'S laid off 900 employees across various teams, and in October 2022, approximately 2,500 workers were let go.

Over the last year, BYJU'S has experienced a series of challenges, including laying off more than 3,000 employees, facing raids by authorities, lawsuits from lenders, counterclaims against those lenders, and the suspension of partnerships with lending entities.

BYJU'S has not yet submitted its financial statements for FY22. In FY21, the edtech company losses rose to Rs 4,564.38 crore—significantly greater than its loss of Rs 305.5 crore in FY20.