BYJU's to continue operations at Kerala Technopark center, not to lay off employees

BYJU's had earlier decided to lay off all of its employees at its center in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, and the decision to reverse it comes after CEO Byju Raveendran held talks with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

Edutech company BYJU’s, which had earlier decided to lay off all of its employees at its centre in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, has decided to continue its operation at the centre after Byju Raveendran, CEO & Founder of the company, held talks with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Labour Commissioner K. Vasuki IAS also chaired a meeting with the employees, representatives of Prathidhwani, a welfare organisation of information technology employees, and the BYJU’s management in which the company also promised to take back employees who have already resigned.

Also read: No forceful layoffs in Kerala, only relocation to Bengaluru, says BYJU’s

The company also agreed for a written agreement to the employees that it will continue operations at the Technopark centre for a fixed period, in a effort to regain their trust. A press release from the company said that the company has decided to relook at the restructuring plans and continue its development centre at Technopark, following a meeting between the CEO and the CM. Mr. Raveendran is learnt to have told the CM that the case of the Technopark centre and its staff came to his notice quite late and only after the global restructuring plan was rolled out. Following this, it was decided to continue the operations at the centre without any changes.

The more than 150 employees of BYJU’s Think & Learn Private Limited at Technopark were in for a rude shock last week when they were asked to put in their resignation papers. Faced with an uncertain future and intense pressure from the higherups to quit “willingly,” the employees approached Prathidhwani, a welfare organisation of information technology employees, which got in touch with the Labour Commissioner and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty.

Also read: We are aware of our mistakes, will try course correction: BYJU’s co-founder

After this, the employees had the first round of talks with the Labour Commissioner, in which the company officials did not take part. Most of the employees The Hindu had spoken to said that there was no written communication regarding the layoffs and closing down of the Technopark centre until last Tuesday evening, when they got an e-mail from a company official offering to accommodate the entire team in Bengaluru or provide a “progressive” exit package. The company, in public, continues to maintain that this has been the plan all along and that there was never a plan to lay off anyone. Quite a few of the employees with lesser work experience had given in under pressure and put in their resignation