Byju’s has officially vacated its largest office space in Bengaluru’s Kalyani Tech Park, with many of its current employees now having to shift their workspace to Prestige Tech Park or the company’s main office on Bannerghatta Main Road, sources familiar with the matter told The Free Press Journal.
The Kalyani Tech Park, which is considered one of the most premium office spaces in the city, housed Byju’s office property spanning 5.58 lakh square feet. According to a spokesperson, representing the edtech company, such a move is aimed at boosting its operations.
“BYJU'S has over 3 million square feet of rented spaces across the country to support its requirements. Expansion and reduction in office space are based on changes in working policies and business priorities which are very regular and are aimed at boosting operational efficiencies,” Byju’s spokesperson said in a statement.
As per reports, the company has also vacated two of its nine floors at Prestige Tech Park.
Recent, new employees laid off by Byju's, say sources
According to sources familiar with Byju’s Sales operations, the edtech unicorn also fired 54 employees from its Bengaluru branches, all having joined the company just 1-2 months ago.
“There were not given any particular reasons other than the fact that they were not able to justify their work at the company,” said one individual, when asked about the reasons behind the layoffs. A Byju’s spokesperson didn't comment on the matter.
Crisis after crisis for Byju's
Luck has not been on the side of once India’s most successful edtech startup as it is making headlines after headlines over multiple issues ranging from layoffs, tussle with lenders, government investigations, agitations from its tuition centre employees over incentives, and more just in the last two years.
The latest crisis hitting Byju’s doors stemmed from Byju’s Tuition Centres (BTCs), wherein employees were up in arms about non-payment of production-linked pay and critical incentives. Reports also suggested that the employees were going to organise protests across India on July 25, in case their demands were not met.
Mrinal Mohit, who is considered the de facto head of Byju’s India operations, allayed concerns of the employees on July 22 by promising them incentives from August while also stating that their variable pay would be remitted next quarter, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Byju's denies protest plans among BTC employees
But Byju’s denied the meeting being about any protests and rather termed it as a ‘celebration of the startup’s achievements in hybrid learning’.
“This address by Mrinal Mohit to BTC managers was planned well in advance, to mark the completion of one year of BTC. It was not a reaction to any rumour, but a celebration of all our achievements in hybrid learning. It was also organised to transparently share the plan for the next six months as we now embark on building BTC 2.0, which is even more effective and efficient than BTC 1.0. In addition, all the concerns of our employees, including about restructuring and incentives were duly and satisfactorily addressed. We are not aware of any employee protests. Any rumours regarding the same are incorrect,” the company spokesperson told The FPJ.
Lenders agree to amend loan worth $1.2 billion
The Byju Raveendran-led edtech giant has found some relief from its lenders, who own over 85% of the edtech startup's $1.2 billion term loan, and have agreed to amend the payment.
A steering committee of the creditors group said in a statement, on Monday, that they will amend the loan by August 3 which can ‘immediately’ solve the loan’s acceleration and end all open litigation while avoiding any further enforcement actions.
“We look forward to completing the loan amendment over the next two weeks and are committed to doing our part to deliver on our agreed upon timeline,” stated the steering committee, as per Reuters.
