Byju’s-owned WhiteHat Jr lays off 280-300 employees

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WhiteHat Jr, owned by Byju's, has laid off 280-300 employees, after over 800 employees tendered their resignations in May, according to sources in the know. This comes at the back of mass layoffs, restructuring, and shutdowns in the edtech sector.

WhiteHatJr has become the latest to join the fray of startups, especially within Ed-tech, laying off employees in large numbers, after a year of aggressive hiring and high employee cost.

Inc42 was the first to report the layoffs.

Sources have told Moneycontrol that employees from the sales and marketing team at WhiteHat Jr are largely impacted by this round of layoffs. Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the layoffs are largely impacting sales and marketing roles, according to various industry sources, while engineering and product roles have been mostly insulated from the heat.

Another source, requesting anonymity, said that the current round of downsizing has affected employees both in India and other geographies, where the company operates.

The company spokesperson has also shared an official statement confirming the range of layoffs.

The statement said, “WhiteHat Jr is focused on providing quality education to young students while continuing to build a strong business. To realign with our business priorities, we are optimizing our team to accelerate results and best position the business for long-term growth. WhiteHat Jr continues to put students first and invest in building a high-quality teacher’s network.”

Earlier in May, about 800 employees from Byju’s-owned Whitehat Junior, too, resigned as they were asked to move to different cities immediately.  Employees complained that Whitehat Junior was looking to cut costs and hence had asked employees to relocate without any prior intimation, which led to many resigning. In 2020, Whitehat Jr was sold to BYJU'S in a $300 million all-cash deal.