Byju's: Kerala government officials to meet edtech company today regarding retrenchment of employees

 Byju's: Kerala government officials to meet edtech company today regarding retrenchment of employees

Byju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran apologized to the company's employees for the layoffs.

The Kerala government will hold a meeting with Byju's officials on November 2 to discuss the 'forced resignation' of 170 employees. Kerala Labor Department officials had earlier scheduled a meeting for October 25. However, Byju's decided not to participate citing short notice. The company is laying off 2,500 employees, or 5% of the workforce.

On October 25, some Byju's employees contacted Kerala Labor Commissioner K Vasuki. He claimed that there was a verbal request for forced resignation by the company. According to media sources, Byju's addressed the employees and offered to shift them to Kochi or Bengaluru to reduce expenses and restructure for profitable growth.

Byju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran apologized to the company's employees for the layoffs at India's largest education technology company, claiming that the 2,500 job cuts were necessary to eliminate role duplication and reduce redundancy.

In a statement to staff members, Raveendran claimed that due to unfavorable macroeconomic variables, Byju's was forced to focus on sustainability and capital-efficient growth. He said the layoffs broke his heart.

He wrote to his employees, "I apologize if the process isn't as smooth as we wanted it to be. While we want this process to go smoothly and efficiently, we don't want to rush it." "

"I realize that there is a big price to pay for walking down this path to profitability. I really feel sorry for the people who have to leave Byju's," he said.

While reducing redundancies, integrating its subsidiaries into one India business and focusing on sustainable growth and profitability, Byju's said earlier in October that it would lay off 2,500 workers over the course of six months.

Defending the decision, Raveendran said Byju's has expanded rapidly and significantly globally during the past four years, including through acquisitions.