Byju's CEO says laying off 2,500 employees is a price to pay for profitability

Tech startup Byju's has announced that it is laying off 2,500 employees as it tries to cut company's spending and optimise its operational cost. The company has announced that it is going to let go of around 5 per cent of its 50,000 employees. The job cuts will be carried out across departments including product, content, media and technology in phases in the next six months. Followed by the decision, Byju's CEO Byju Raveendran has sent an apology email to its employees acknowledging the "not as smooth" goings on at the company.

"I seek your forgiveness if this process is not as smooth as we had intended it to be. While we want to finish this process smoothly and efficiently, we don't want to rush through it. So, we are informing all the affected team members individually with the dignity, empathy, and patience they deserve. I want to emphasise that the overall job cuts are not more than five percent of our total strength," Raveendran said in his mail.

Explaining the company's decision to cut its workforce, Byjus's CEO added the decision was made "to protect the health of the larger organization and pay heed to the constraints imposed by external macroeconomic conditions."

"2022 happened. This is the year when many adverse macroeconomic factors changed the business landscape. These have compelled tech companies around the world to focus on sustainability and capital-efficient growth. Byju's is no exception to this trend," he said.

Byju's announced the mass layoff to control budget spending and to optimize marketing and operational cost. It has also started sending emails to the employees who are on the list of those whom the company is firing. According to an email cited by Business Today, Byju's asked employees to serve a 15-day notice period before leaving.

Byju's, touted to be the most valuable startup in India, reportedly suffered a loss of around Rs 4,588 crore in FY21. For the fiscal ending of March 31, 2022 the company revealed that its revenue rose to Rs 10,000 crore but no numbers on profits and loss were revealed. According to PTI, Byju's is also unifying all of its K10 subsidiaries under one business unit, including Meritnation, TutorVista, Scholar, and HashLearn. Aakash and Great Learning will carry on operating as separate businesses in the interim, noted the report.