Unacademy Fires 12% Of Workforce In Fourth Round Of Layoffs In 12 Months

Edtech unicorn Unacademy has seen another round of layoffs, this time firing 12% of its workforce, as it searches for profitability.

In a Slack message sent to the team, Unacademy CEO and cofounder Gaurav Munjal said, “We have taken every step in the right direction to make our core business profitable, yet it’s not enough. We have to go further, we have to go deeper.” 

He added, “Unfortunately, this has led me to take another difficult decision. We will be reducing the size of our team by 12% to ensure that we can meet the goals we are chasing in the current realities we face.”

Inc42 has seen a screenshot of the Slack message.

In the same message, Munjal detailed a severance package for the employees impacted by the layoffs.

The outgoing employees will be eligible for a severance pay equivalent to the notice period and an additional month’s pay, along with accelerated vesting of one year for employees that were with Unacademy for at least one year.

“Today, the global economy is enduring a recession, funding is scarce and running a profitable business is key. We have to adapt to these changes, build and operate in a much leaner manner so we can truly create value for our users and shareholders,” said Munjal, explaining the rationale for yet another round of layoffs.

The latest sackings take Unacademy’s total layoffs to four over the past 12 months, as it has fired 1,500 employees across three layoffs starting March 2022, with the latest round coming in November when it had let go 10% of its workforce.

Including the present round of layoffs, the number of employees sacked across Unacademy group companies crosses 1,900.

Apart from that, Unacademy-owned Relevel also fired 40 employees earlier this year, taking the group’s total to 1,540 employees laid off in the past 12 months.

The round of layoffs followed after the company said it would not be giving out cash appraisals this year, instead opting for stock awards based on performance.

Unacademy reported a consolidated loss of INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, up 85% compared to FY21 despite its consolidated revenue from operations rising 80% to INR 719 Cr at the same time.

Edtech has had a rough time in India ever since offline coaching centres, schools and colleges started reopening in late 2021, following the subsiding pandemic. 

With edtech funding shrinking 44% in 2022, according to Inc42 data, several edtech majors have resorted to layoffs to extend runways and stay afloat. The likes of BYJU’S, Vedantu, Unacademy and many other edtech startups have fired more than 8,500 employees since the start of 2022, per Inc42’s ‘Indian Startup Layoff Tracker’.