Edtech unicorn and India’s highest-valued startup Byju’s has been accused of making its employees resign “forcefully” by a union of IT employees in Bengaluru. This comes just days after the company came under fire in Kerala for forcing some of its employees to quit.
However, Byju’s has denied the allegations of forceful resignations by the Bengaluru employee union. According to the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU), the edtech is engaging in “unfair labour practices”, asking the company’s management to “respect the law of the land and reinstate all retrenched employees” with immediate effect.
The Byju Raveendran-led edtech unicorn, on the other hand has denied the claims saying that they are a responsible organisation. “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,” Economic Times quoted a Byju spokesperson as saying.
“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,” the company spokesperson added. The company had announced that it will lay off around 5 per cent (2,500 workers) of its 50,000-strong workforce as part of its plan “to grow profitably and sustainably” by March 2023.
The spokesperson stated that they are 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.
Meanwhile, the edtech has raised Rs 300 crore in loan from its subsidiary Aakash Educational Services for “principal business activities”, according to regulatory filings to the Registrar of Companies by the test-prep platform. Byju’s had acquired Aakash for $1 billion last year.
