Unacademy Fires 380 Employees in Fourth Round of Layoffs in 12 Months Amid Search for Profitability

• ByStartupStory     |    March 30, 2023

Unacademy, the edtech unicorn, has conducted a new round of layoffs, cutting about 12% of its workforce or around 380 employees, as the company looks for profitability. In a Slack message to the team, Unacademy CEO and co-founder Gaurav Munjal said that they have taken all the necessary steps to make their core business profitable, but they still need to go deeper to achieve the desired level of profitability.

In a message sent to the team, Unacademy CEO and cofounder Gaurav Munjal announced a reduction in the workforce by 12% to achieve the company’s goals. He further detailed a severance package for the impacted employees, which includes severance pay equivalent to the notice period and an additional month’s pay. Additionally, employees who were with Unacademy for at least one year will receive accelerated vesting of one year.

Unacademy has announced another round of layoffs, with 12% of its workforce, or around 380 employees, being let go. Unacademy CEO and cofounder Gaurav Munjal explained that the decision was made to make the core business profitable and adapt to changes such as the current global economic recession and limited funding. This is the fourth round of layoffs for the edtech unicorn over the past year, with a total of 1,500 employees being fired since March 2022. The latest layoffs were announced in November, resulting in 10% of Unacademy’s workforce being let go. Munjal has also detailed a severance package for impacted employees, which includes severance pay equivalent to the notice period and an extra month’s pay.

 

Unacademy has now laid off a total of more than 1,900 employees, including the latest round of layoffs affecting about 12% of its workforce or 380 employees. Additionally, Unacademy subsidiary Relevel had already laid off 40 employees earlier this year, bringing the total number of layoffs in the past 12 months to 1,540. The latest layoffs followed Unacademy’s decision to offer stock awards instead of cash appraisals this year, and the company’s goal of building a leaner operation to create value for its users and shareholders amid the ongoing recession and funding constraints in the global economy.

Unacademy faced an 85% YoY increase in consolidated loss to INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, while its consolidated revenue from operations rose by 80% YoY to INR 719 Cr. Edtech in India has been going through a difficult phase since offline coaching centres, schools and colleges resumed operations in late 2021. In addition, Inc42 data indicates that edtech funding shrank by 44% in 2022, leading several edtech majors to resort to layoffs to extend their runways and remain operational.

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