Byju’s New India CEO Ushered In, Strategy Includes As Many As 4,000 Lay Offs(Image: Linkedin/Arjun Mohan)
Byju’s have a new India CEO, Arjun Mohan. With the induction of new CEO, the edtech giant also has new plans for re-energising the company. Arjun Mohan’s strategy would include streamlining of operations, which is expected to bring the workforce at the company to one third of its present level, this, would be undertaken in order to enhance cost, the TOI reported.
As a part of restructuring and streamlining the operations of the company, as many as 4,000 employees could be laid off, insider sources said, reported the mint. Some news has reported the job cuts as 5,500, whereas there are other reports which said that the job cuts could be up to 4000. The workforce which would be affected by this would include senior executives and their team. This is expected to bring down the cost of management expenses at the senior level. The streamlining process would also include contract staff as well as permanent staff. The process is likely to kick-start later this week or early next week, the mint said.
In a statement, a Byju’s spokesperson said, “we are in the final stages of a business restructuring exercise to simplify operating structures, reduce cost base and better cash flow management. Byju’s new India CEO, Arjun Mohan, will be completing this process in the next few weeks and will steer a revamped and sustainable operation ahead.”
Mohan who was earlier with Byju’s returned to the edtech after leading upGrad’s India Business. He was brought into the company a month ago and has been working in an informal capacity for a while. As he takes charge, he would be responsible for over 75% of the edtech’s revenues. Mohan has also written a book titled “Educating a billion: How EdTech Start-ups, Apps, You Tube and AI Disrupted Education.”
The job cuts at Byju’s will be executed in the parent company, Think & Learn and could mostly be at the senior level. It would not cross over to any of its subsidiaries. The focus of the company now is upon bringing down the overlaps on its online and offline staff. The mint reported that from the 19 regional offices, the company would now keep only 4-5 offices. As a part of sustainable, long term plan, the company’s aim is to bring in students to offline classes. There are also plans to merge verticals to usher in cost effectiveness. In August, Byju’s parent company alone had 19,000 staff which included its contract staff, now, it would be brought down to 15,000, after the job cuts.
The company has been in news recently to repayment of loan and payment to its laid-off employees. Last year it was valued at $22 billion but is now faced with challenges which has led to investors and auditors backing out.
