Byju's fresh round of layoffs comes amid legal battle with US lenders

Edtech giant Byju's has laid off around 1,000 employees across all departments as a part of its restructuring process. This came at a time when the company has entered into a legal battle with US lenders for USD 1 billion term loan B. 

Speaking to PTI, a source aware of the development said, “Byju's has laid off close to 1,000 employees. However, the final headcount of the company remains around 50,000 because of the addition of new employees. The recent layoff is part of the company's cost optimization process."

The company had sacked around 5% of 2,500 employees over the past six months starting October 2022 as it unveiled the plan to become profitable by March 2023. 

Byju’s founder and chief executive officer Byju Raveendran in October had assured employees that no further layoffs beyond the planned 2,500 staff.

The layoffs are believed to have taken place on June 16 with employees being fired via in-person meetings and phone calls. The layoffs reportedly affected members of the platform, brand, marketing, business, product and tech teams.

The company, which employs around 50,000 employees, is one of India's largest startups, once valued at $22 billion. It was founded in 2011 and has attracted global investors such as General Atlantic, BlackRock and Sequoia Capital over the past decade.

In recent months, however, BYJU'S has found itself mired in legal and financial woes. Blackrock marked the company's valuation down to $8.2 billion last month - over 60% below its peak valuation. Prior to that, the investment management company had marked the startup down to $11 billion in March. BYJU'S is also fighting a battle in US courts with creditors who want an early repayment of a $1.2 billion loan.

(With PTI inputs)