According to reports, the Ed-tech company BYJU’s has vacated one of it’s largest office in Bengaluru due to it’s cost-cutting and liquidity enhancement measures with also a problem of delayed funding. It also has relinquished a part of it’s another office in the city.
According to Moneycontrol’s report BYJU’s has a total of three office spaces in Bengaluru, including the 5.58 lakh square feet property in Kalyani Tech Park that has been vacated by them now.
As per some employees of the company, it has asked them to work from home from July 23 and also that the company has given up 2 out of 9 floors of the prestige tech park in Bengaluru.
Trouble of office places continuing with BYJU’s
The trouble for BYJU’s with the office workspaces doesn’t stop here because at Kalyani tech park, “BYJU’s had leased two buildings, Magnolia and Ebony, in Kalyani Tech Park in Brookfield last June. It vacated Magnolia last month, shifting employees to Ebony. The employees have been asked to work from Prestige Tech Park and the main office on Baneghatta Main Road”.
A security personnel from the Kalyani Tech Park confirmed the statement by telling that, “BYJU’s will exit Ebony by August. Initially, the company had leased five floors in Magnolia and six floors in Ebony. However, it has now vacated four out of the six floors in Ebony, with the remaining two floors to be given up by August.”
What does this vacating of offices by BYJU’s signal?
This vacating of offices by BYJU’s throws a light on the financial challenges which are being faced by the country’s biggest ed-tech company. BYJU’s is seeking the help of around $700 million from a source which they haven’t secured yet. The company has also been asked by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) due to non-payment of PF dues, highlighting further cash flow issues for the company. Data on the official EPFO portal revealed that for June, the company only paid provident fund (PF) for 738 employees, despite agreeing with the EPFO to clear payments before July 15.
In order to which, In May, the company gave PF’s of around 25,000 employees.
Future is grim for BYJU’s?
Their problem with the funding has laid to cost-cutting initiative last month, leading to the layoff of over 1,000 employees. However, on July 22, Moneycontrol reported that the company assured BYJU’s Tuition Center (BTC) employees during an emergency townhall that there would be no further layoffs at BTCs. Nevertheless, BTC employees planned a pan-India protest on July 25 amid speculation of more layoffs which can happen in the future.
If we talk more about this, the ED or (Enforcement Directorate) searched BYJU’s offices in Bengaluru in April under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The company hasn’t filed the audited results for FY22 (2021-22).
Moreover, In recent months, the Ed-tech major has been grappling with multiple issues, including concerns over its corporate governance practices.
