Byju's firing model: Unrealistic target, a 'pipeline' & the exit door

Many employees and ex-employees of BYJU’s have accused the ed-tech company of putting up unrealistic targets and pressuring them to quit. However, BYJU's has denied the allegations and said the employees are given "ample time" to meet the targets and the company is no exception to “high performance, high growth” culture.

BYJU's had recently announced it would lay off 5 per cent of its about 50,000 strong workforce, which amounts to approximately 2,500 people. Business Today earlier reported the company had started the lay off and had given many employees a 15-day notice period. Business Today has now learnt BYJU's has allegedly set 'unachievable' targets for many of its employees and when they fail to meet the targets, they are asked to resign.   

A former employee told Business Today, “I worked as a Business Development Associate (BDA) for BYJU’s. In September, they put me on the pipeline and doubled my targets.”

According to a source, who has worked with BYJU's, ‘pipeline’ or performance improvement programme (PIP) is a phase where employees are given targets which if they fail to achieve, they are fired. The source said, “Previously, only those employees who had been underperforming consistently for 6-8 weeks were put in the pipeline. But ever since the company started going through rough patch financially, most employees have been put on the pipeline.”

The former employee added, “So after being put on pipeline, I was asked to get business worth Rs 6-8 lakhs in roughly 4 weeks. Normally I was asked to get Rs 2-4 lakhs in same time. They almost doubled my target.”

Another ex-employee who worked as Pre-Sales Associate said, “In my position as Pre-Sales Associate, I was expected to set up meetings with potential clients. But in past few months, the pressure on me was so much and I was put on pipeline with unachievable target.”

Several other employees told Business Today that the company gave them unrealistic and unachievable targets after being put on the ‘pipeline.’ One such disgruntled employee said that the company was giving them such unachievable targets so that the employees would quit the job themselves without the company having to fire them.

The employee said, “Most people I know are now put on pipeline with double-triple targets. This way company wants the employee to leave the job on their own because they were getting bad publicity for firing people.”

Several employees Business Today reached out to confirmed they had quit on their own after failing to achieve the targets. A former employee said, “I was certain I would not achieve the pipeline target so I put in my papers myself instead of being fired because that way at least I would get my experience letter. I am sure they would not give it to me if I was fired.”

A BYJU's spokesperson, in response to Business Today's queries, has denied all allegations. In a detailed response to the claims made by the employees, the spokesperson said:

"We have always given ample time to our BDAs (Business Development Associate) to meet their targets and the insinuation about our unreasonable expectations is unfounded. The company provides adequate avenues for career growth to all its BDAs. It would be naïve and counter-productive to put our BDAs under undue pressure to deliver results; in fact, the company sees them as its most valuable and valued growth assets. 

BYJU’S has always taken immense pride in offering even freshers from small towns the best packages and opportunities, and in valuing talent over experience. We have scaled up our sales team in the last three years and have set up a robust 6-week training program before onboarding sales executives. In fact, we recently revamped our sales model by further scaling up the inside sales teams in addition to the current outside sales (feet-on-the-street) model."

The spokesperson further added: "It is absolutely false that BYJU’s is forcing employees to resign. BYJU’s is a responsible organisation and follows all law of the land. BYJU’S employs nearly 50,000 people across India. Around five percent, or 2,500, of these positions are being rationalised as part of BYJU’S current strategic plan to grow profitably and sustainably. Each of the employees who are affected by the restructuring is being informed individually with the empathy that they deserve and need at this time. 

BYJU’S is providing all of them a progressive exit package, including extended family health insurance benefits, outplacement services led by some of the industry’s best recruitment specialists, fast-track full-and-final settlement on demand and the provision of ‘garden leave’ where they can look for jobs while on BYJU’S payroll. All these employees will also be offered an assured path to return to BYJU’S in case they are unable to find a job in the next 12 months in new roles that are more relevant and productive for both the company and the employees."

Also Read: After Wipro, Infosys, Deloitte, new recruits say Mphasis delays onboarding by up to 10 months - BusinessToday

Also Read: Not just IT giants Infosys, Wipro! Big Four firm Deloitte too has delayed offer letters - BusinessToday