Edtech unicorn Vedantu has joined the fresh group of start-ups who are laying off employees following a cost restructuring exercise. A Vedantu spokesperson confirmed to Business Today that the company has laid off 3.5 per cent of its 6000-strong workforce.
“We have over 6000 employees out of which ~120 contractors and 80 full-time, or 3.5 per cent of the total strength, are academics or assistant teachers [who] were being reevaluated. We have an annual contract with them, and at the beginning of every academic year, we follow a process of load rebalancing where we rejig pertaining to these roles, based on our growth expectations. Reassessment cannot be done in the middle of the year as the learning experience and continuity of the teachers throughout the year is our first priority,” a Vendatu spokesperson said in a statement.
In September 2021, the edtech firm, which operates in K-12 online tuitions and test preparation verticals, raised $100 million in a Series E round led by Tiger Global and Coatue at a $1 billion valuation.
“With more technology intervention, restructuring of the class format, and changes in the categories, we relook at these roles of our academics and assistant teachers. As we synchronize our growth goals for this year, we are also hiring more than 1000+ employees in various teams including 100+ for similar positions,” the Vedantu spokesperson added.
Another edtech major Unacademy had laid off 600 employees in April this year, a majority of whom comprised teachers/ tutors and contractual workforce. Earlier this year, serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala-backed start-up Lido Learning too shut its operations with many employees alleging on social media platforms that they were not paid salaries for several months. Lido was also offering tuitions in the K-12 space.
These companies join a club of other new-age companies like Meesho, Furlenco, and Trell who have laid off employees as the investors have started exercising caution in participating in large funding rounds in the wake of global macroeconomic conditions.
As per a recent NASSCOM-PGA Labs report, large deals across start-up ecosystem in India were hit in the first quarter of CY22, with deals worth $100 million and above this year have not been as prevalent as last year.