Byju’s plans cash sops for sales staff
- The sales workforce of Byju’s, accounting for about half of its total employee count, was the worst hit during its several rounds of layoffs in the past one year
MUMBAI : After extended legal battles and massive layoffs, Byju’s, the largest edtech startup in India, is in initial stages of planning a rewards programme for 7,000-10,000 members of its sales team. One of the options on the table is a short-term cash incentive, said a senior company executive.
But its challenging financial situation has also prompted the firm to assess if its balance sheet can take the hit of this programme, he added. “The company is working on a rewards structure for its sales team. It maybe in the form of cash incentive. Rationalization is over and employees need to be motivated."
This reward programme is not about a hike since it may not be in a position to shoulder the cost of salary hikes right now, he said.
The sales workforce of Byju’s, accounting for about half of its total employee count, was the worst hit during its several rounds of layoffs in the past one year, affecting nearly 13,000 employees, including the 4,000 who were sacked recently.
“Nothing is decided yet and cash incentive is still in the drawing board stage," said a second executive.
The edtech major didn’t respond to Mint’s queries.
The employee count for Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd, the parent company which had 19,000-plus employees as of 31 August, excluding its subsidiaries, but including contract staff, may reduce to 15,000 now, after the last round of layoffs, he added.
Byju’s, led by chief executive Arjun Mohan since September, has initiated a cost rationalization plan aimed at bringing the company closer to profitability and reducing expenditure. The former upGrad executive with prior experience at Byju’s, is responsible for more than 75% of the company’s revenues.
The company’s fortunes have mirrored the overall edtech sector’s trajectory, grappling with the sharp decline in online education following the two years of the pandemic.
Byju’s, previously valued at $22.6 billion according to internal estimates, finally published its audited and unqualified financial earnings report in September 2022, for the financial year ended 31 March 2021, after an 18-month delay.
Think & Learn had then reported that its total comprehensive loss widened to ₹4,588.75 crore in 2020-21 from a comprehensive loss of ₹231.69 crore in FY20.
It is likely to announce its FY22 results this week.
It is backed by the likes of Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Prosus, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Peak XV Partners, Sofina, International Finance Corp, Lightspeed Ventures, Verlinvest, Owl Ventures, Tiger Global and Qatar Investment Authority. Manipal group founder Ranjan Pai has offered a ₹300 crore financial facility to Byju’s parent to help plug working capital and cash-flow requirements.
Founded in 2011, by Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and Riju Raveendran, Byju’s is one of the biggest education companies in the country. Today, there are over 200 active centres across India and the company aims to scale it up to 500 centres by the end of this year.
