Byju’s is set to lay off nearly 2,500, or 5 per cent, of its employees as part of an “optimisation” plan. The move by India’s most valuable start-up comes amid a funding winter and steep losses.“To avoid redundancies and duplication of roles, and by leveraging technology better, around 5 per cent of Byju’s 50,000-strong workforce is expected to be rationalised across product, content, media, and technology teams in a phased manner,” said the company in a statement.
In June, Byju’s laid off about 600 employees at its group companies WhiteHat Jr and Toppr. It was a move to drive cost efficiency, according to the company. Under the optimisation plan, the company said it looks to target profitability by March 2023 and bring the K10 subsidiaries — Meritnation, TutorVista, Scholar, and Hash Learn under the India business unit. Aakash and Great Learning would function separately.The company is also realigning marketing spending to enhance its global footprint. Byju’s booked a loss of Rs 4,588 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2021, 19 times more than the preceding year, according to its latest financial report. “As a mature organisation that takes its responsibility towards investors and stakeholders seriously, we aim to ensure sustainable growth, alongside strong revenue growth,” said Mrinal Mohit, CEO, Byju’s India business. “These measures will help us achieve profitability in the defined time frame of March 2023.”