Wearing $400 Blueberry, Unacademy CEO Announces ‘No Appraisal’
Gaurav Munjal, CEO of educational technology company Unacademy, sparked outrage on social media after announcing ‘zero appraisal’ for the employees while wearing a $400 Blueberry T-shirt.
While addressing the employees, Gaurav said that they had not apparently met their growth target and would not be holding appraisals for the workforce. He then added that though the performance in 2024 wasn’t great was above average. “But we did not hit our growth goals. The good part is that the burn is extremely low now, and we have a huge runway. And I kept saying that we don’t have a survival risk,” he said while speaking to the employees at town hall.
Read also: ‘Unwell’ Vinod Kambli’s Video Goes Viral
Munjal further cited headwinds, a difficult market, and decreasing revenue from offline centers as reasons for the ed-tech firm not meeting its target.
“It’s been tough, and that’s why I have one bad news that we won’t be able to do any appraisals this year. I know I said that we will do appraisals two, three weeks ago, but when we started the process, we realised that we made a mistake,” he said.
Announcing the bad news, Munjal added, “We won’t be able to do any appraisals this year. I know I said that we will do appraisals two to three weeks ago, but when we started the process, we realised that we made a mistake. Because we did not hit our growth numbers, it is better that we are honest. I know it’s tough as some of you have not got appraisals for two years.”
Munjal added that though the Unacademy’s business has grown, it was not as per Munjal’s expectation. He said, “There is no survival risk for the company. But yes, growth is a challenge. We are fighting multiple battles online and offline”.
However, the disparity between his luxury and the announcement was widely noted on social media. Indeed, the irony of the moment was not lost on netizens.
Pointing out Munjal’s expensive T-shirt, a Reddit user shared a small footage from Unacademy’s town hall. He noted that the resale price online goes anywhere between $200 to $570. The users were very critical of his choice of appeal.
Read also: “Waiting For That Congratulatory Call To Happen…”: Bajrang Punia Aims At PM Modi
“These CEO’s won’t lower their own standard of living but rather stop appraisals for the people who are running their businesses,” another added.
“Who told him to keep unrealistic growth rate goals? If they are not making losses, every employee should get a salary hike,” a third person opined.
