Bengaluru-based company Unacademy has let around 210 educators go. According to reports, layoffs were done as a cost-restructuring exercise and based on their poor performance.
“In most of the cases, the startup (Unacademy) has not renewed the contracts of these teachers and in some cases, it has terminated the contract of some teachers,” said a person aware of the development.
Around 80% of the laid off educators used to provide free lessons through Unacademy’s YouTube channel, and the rest were educators for Unacademy’s subscription-based model.
Unacademy is unlikely to refill the vacated spots at the moment. The edtech unicorn currently has a teacher base of 3,000, meaning 6.6% of the teachers have been laid off.
“From time to time, Unacademy reviews, assesses and audits its businesses and verticals. Basis one such recent exercise, Unacademy has identified that there is scope to streamline some of its platform offerings and improve its learner experience,” an Unacademy spokesperson said.
“In this regard, roles of educators across categories have been re-evaluated such that engagements of a few service providers have either not been renewed or have become redundant. Consequently, we have parted ways with some educators in accordance with the terms of their contractual engagements. We value the contributions of all Educators, and we wish them all the best,” the spokesperson continued.
