BENGALURU: Two years ago, Byju’s was the 13th most valuable start-up in the world with a valuation of $22 billion, and the company would raise funds with ease. But in 2024, the company is struggling to pay salaries to over 15,000 employees and to make the full and final settlement (FnF) for those it laid off last year.
With multiple legal cases and even a $200 million rights issue that the company managed to raise is stuck in an escrow account, the company has been in the news for over a year for all the wrong reasons and these issues have created a big impact on the morale of employees.
On condition of anonymity, many employees that this newspaper spoke to said they are hunting for jobs desperately but couldn’t find one given the reputation of the company at present.
“I have to pay three credit card bills; many are struggling to pay equated monthly installments (EMIs) and various loans. This company, according to us, will collapse at any time,” said an employee with Byju’s, adding that the company started facing issues since the beginning of the last year.
Another employee who has been trying to find a job for the past one year said, “I have never visited the office and a majority of them who have been recruited in the past one year at least have been working from home. We are clueless about what is happening around and are always being kept in the dark.”
The company has shut all its offices and has only one in Bengaluru currently. A couple of former employees who have been fired by the company between June and September last year, said they haven’t received two months’ salaries and the full and final settlement is still due.
“Even though employees return their assets, the company is not settling their payment and showing a negative balance. When employees ask for FnF, of late, the company is also not responding through emails,” said a former employee. Those employees that this newspaper spoke to said that they are going through a tough phase.
“I cleared many rounds in another edtech firm and in the final round, the HR (human resource) department rejected me giving a very absurd reason,” said a tutor, requesting anonymity. Irrespective of various issues, both online and offline tuitions are still going on strong and kids are also enrolling in Byju’s, said another tutor.
When asked about the final settlement and salaries to employees, a source aware of the matter said that the company will settle all dues once the rights issue has been cleared and it is trying hard for the same.
