Byju’s Sacked Employees Cry Fowl On Forced Resignations And Ill-Treatment; Byju Laying Off Employees To Cut Costs But Appoints Lionel Messi As Its Global Brand Ambassador?
The Bengaluru – based Edtech firm Byju has gone on a laying-off spree after it sacked several employees on the pretext of achieving profitability.
However, the laying off of the employees has come under the scanner as several sacked employees have disclosed the manner in which the company and its management have undertaken this task.
Several sacked employees have reported that they are disappointed and appalled as they were forced to hand in their resignation. Byju resorted to unethical means to oust them from the company even as the company sought to achieve profitability.
Byju’s is an Indian multinational educational technology company with its headquarters in Bengaluru and was founded by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath in 2011.
The company is valued at US$22 billion, and Byju claims to have over 115 million registered students.
Resignations And A Lousy Deal
The sacked former employees have complained that the company forced them to sign pre-drafted resignation letters and resorted to hiring bouncers for those who might have “put their foot down” and that the entire process has been unethical. They have been handed a raw deal.
Byju has maintained that it is looking to cut 2500 employees off its payroll in its quest to achieve profitability.
Threats, Forced Resignations – Byju Controversy
While Byju has maintained that the recent layoffs are in order to cut redundancies across the board, certain media houses have reported that the current discharge is not in isolation but in continuation of the chain of layoffs that the company has been doing.
According to several employees, the first layoffs started in the month of June 2022, wherein Byju fired at least 3000 employees.
The company has upped the game of layoffs since then; in fact, many hired recently by the firm have been handed their termination letters within a few weeks of joining the company.
The above points to the unclear strategy that the company has, wherein while it continues with its hiring process at the same time, within a few weeks of joining, it is firing the same people.
Furthermore, none of the sacked employees was given a notice period; they were informed of the decision of the management to oust them from the company in a day and were forced to face the exit process all while they reported to work, just like any ordinary day.
The company’s ex-employees also expressed that they were treated like robots; at the same time, the founder and CEO (Byju Raveendran) issued a letter of apology to the current employees; the ones that were sacked had no formal communication from the founder or the management of the company.
Many have also complained that they were not even given a chance to question the decision of “forced resignations”, and the company’s management offered no communication in this regard.
What’s even more inhuman, perhaps, is that several have reported that the entire process of firing was done over a Zoom meeting; this is an excellent example of lousy HR practices and is a reflection of the management and the work culture thriving in Byju’s.
Several have also reported that they were threatened by the management and forced to hand in their resignation drafted by Byju on the pretext that if they did not comply with the management’s demand, they would be issued a letter of termination and all benefits related to end-of-service will be withdrawn (which equates to one month of salary for the fired employee).
This is a bitter pill to swallow; imagine working for a company for several years, creating content for them and being forced to hand in your resignation without any reason given by the company and instead being threatened and blackmailed simultaneously.
Woes Of Those Fired –
- They were forced to sign pre-drafted resignation letters.
- No formal communication from the management
- Bouncers are hired to control any dispute that may arise
- Blackmailed to resign or receive a letter of termination and no salary
- No regard for long-term employees working with the company
- The hiring process is “on” during the laying off of employees
Byju’s Explanation
While Byju has displayed malpractices in its HR practices, it issued an apology letter on Monday informing of its decision to fire 2500 employees. Byju has also claimed that all complaints and media reports regarding the layoffs are false and that vested interests are spreading malicious rumours.
Kerela Employees Fight Back.
Byju also had plans to lay off 140 employees and shut its operations in Thiruvananthapuram; however, the decision was called off after a meeting between the founder and CEO Byju Raveendran and Kerela Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Byju’s after the meeting, issued a statement “Following a detailed discussion between the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri P Vijayan and Byju Raveendran, Founder of BYJU’S, we have decided to continue operations of our TVM (Thiruvananthapuram) product development centre.”
The decision not to shut down Byju’s app media development centre at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram was taken after the affected employees moved to the state labour department through Prathidhwani – a welfare organization of IT professionals.
This is the first time in Kerala that the department of labour has come down hard on an IT firm which had overnighted termination letters to 150 employees.
On October 18, the entire workforce at Byju’s Thiruvananthapuram centre was asked to hand over their resignation letters or face termination.
While many complied with the order since the firm had already announced its country-wide layoff strategy and, faced with no option, submitted their resignation letters.
However, 80 – odd employees decided to fight back and approached Prathidhwani, which has its members in all IT parks across Kerala. The IT professional’s welfare outfit petitioned Labour Minister V. Sivankutty, who referred the matter to the district labour office.
Ironically, the company representative did not turn up in the first round of discussions. But a decision to change the plan was taken on Wednesday after a meeting attended by Byju’s vice-president Jayadev.
In conversation with the labour commissioner, the management opined that in the interest of employees, the administration would give in writing the minimum guarantee period for the Thiruvananthapuram units functioning within two weeks, giving time so that the employees can plan their careers accordingly.
It was also decided that Byju would reinstate those employees who have resigned from the Technopark unit, while those who are unwilling to rejoin the firm will be given all benefits as per law and their respective experience certificates.
Layoffs for Profits and Spending Millions on Messi?
While Byju is busy laying off its employees across the country to achieve profitability, the company and its management have decided to rope in world-famous football star Lionel Messi – as the first global brand ambassador of its social impact arm Education For All.
On Friday, the company announced – Messi has signed an agreement with BYJU to promote the cause of equitable education.
In an elaborate statement given by the company, it said that the footballer had risen from the grassroots to become world famous footballer and one of the most famous sports person and cited the example of what Byju’s wants to provide to 5.5 million children through Byju’s Education For All (EFA).
It said that the collaboration would enhance the company’s overseas visibility, as the footballer has a humungous fan base of roughly 3.5 billion fans worldwide; hence, the company wants to take this to its advantage.
Conclusion: Byju’s has, time and time again, come under fire for its malpractices and its treatment of its employees.
The latest controversy that has erupted due to the complaints and recounting of the treatment and the manner in which the firm went about concerning the layoffs is yet another example of the same.
While Byju may have taken the step to achieve its aim of profitability, what it has dolled out and how it has done it is against the fundamentals of the HR practices employed by organizations and companies worldwide.
The company has undoubtedly soured the experience of those who are in the field of providing and giving education; the company needs first to learn the basics before it sets out to conquer the world.
