One of India’s Edu-tech firms, BYJU’S, has started vacating its office spaces in the city of Bengaluru after laying off thousands of employees in the last several months. As per Moneycontrol, the firm is giving up 5.58 lakh square feet of property in the Kalyani Tech Park to save costs and shore up liquidity amid delayed funding.
The firm has advised all of its employees to either Work From Home or use its other facilities from July 23, 2023. The report comes after a video of a BYJU’S employee confronting the seniors over delayed incentives surfaced online.
The report citing sources adds that the Byju’s has given up two out of nine floors it had in the Prestige Tech Park. Some workers from the Kalyani Tech Park in the Brookfield Area may start working out of the prestige Tech Park and its main office on Bannerghhata main road.
In response to the queries, a spokesperson from the firm told Moneycontrol, “Byju’s has over 300 million square feet of rented spaces across the countries to support its requirements. Expansion and reduction in office space are based on the changes
The company took two buildings – Magnolia and Ebony – in Kalyani Tech Park in Brookfield on lease in June last year.
Security personnel at Kalyani Tech Park confirmed the development and said the company will be exiting Ebony by August. Byju’s had leased five floors in Magnolia and six floors in Ebony. According to employees and security officials, it vacated four out of the six floors in Ebony in the previous week and will give up the rest by August 2023
Reasons behind the laying off
In June 2023, the company was under the scanner of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation over the non-payment of the provident fund dues. It was later revealed that the company was forcing its employees to opt for voluntary resignations for an elaborate exit package. Several engineering employees said that they were promised retention bonuses, but that never happened.
It is also facing heat from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the agency launched raids, searches and seizures at three of its premises in Bengaluru. This was a result of a case lodged against Byju Raveendran and his company- “Think and Learn Private Limited, the parent company of Byju’s under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) provisions.
Causes of Downfall
Byju’s also laid off over 1,000 employees in June 2023 in what was another cost-cutting initiative. On July 22, according to Moneycontrol, the company held an emergency town hall with Byju’s Tuition Center (BTC) employees, where it said that it would not be doing any more layoffs at the tuition centres.
Byju’s also experienced delays in submitting its critical financial accounts, which added to the rising worries. This delay drew criticism and made Byju’s difficulties much more severe than before.
The ed-tech has been in a deep crisis since one of its prominent auditors, Delloite, and three investor board members resigned. In June 2023, Deloitte Haskins and Sells resigned as Byju’s auditor, citing a significant delay in submitting financial statements. G.V Ravishankar, Russell Dreisenstock and Vivian Wu also resigned from Byju’s director board.
About Byju’s-
It is an educational and technology company that was launched in the year 2011 by a man from Kerela, Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath.
The flagship project- Byju’s – The Learning App, was launched in India in the year 2015 and has now reached more than 100 million registered students around the globe, with 6.5 million annual paying subscribers. Students spend, on average, 71 minutes a day learning from tech-educational content on the platform.
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