Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), owned by Byju, has let go of 80 to 100 workers in the last few months, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
“Aakash has fired anywhere between 80-100 employees, including senior and middle-level executives, who were impacted by the layoffs,” said one source.
In the last few weeks, a number of long-time workers—some with more than four years of experience—were also let go.
An AESL spokesperson stated, “As a high-performance organization, our performance reviews, talent development interventions, and consequence management follow a biannual cycle. We are introducing new business models as part of the Aakash 2.0 strategy, which includes creating new roles, consolidating existing ones, and aggressively hiring new talent. Unlike other players in the category, we expect to be net hirers by the end of this year.”
This is Aakash’s first layoff since the company was acquired by Byju’s in April 2021, when the edtech behemoth with headquarters in Bengaluru paid approximately $940 million for the business. The AESL founders, the Chaudhry family, declined to exchange their remaining share, citing issues with governance.
Both businesses withdrew their request for merger earlier this year and are still running their separate businesses under the Think and Learn name.
Deepak Mehrotra was named managing director and chief executive officer of Aakash in April. Although the company has not yet submitted audited financial statements for FY23 and FY24, its valuation report predicts that operating revenue will exceed Rs 2,300 crore in FY23.
