Upskilling startup Skill-Lync sacks close to 160 employees in a fresh round of layoffs

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Skill-Lync, an upskilling firm for engineering students and graduates, has laid off close to 160 staff in July, months after the first round of layoffs in April, said co-founder SuryaNarayanan PaneerSelvam.

“I would like to address the reported layoff figure, which accurately stands at 20%. It is important to note that our current total headcount is approximately 800 employees,” said PaneerSelvam in a statement shared with Moneycontrol.

He added that the decision to downsize the workforce came as the company decided to streamline costs.

“Our decision to limit investments in future content and production capabilities was not taken lightly, and we have done our utmost to ensure that the process was as transparent and fair as possible for the employees involved,” he added.

Founded in 2018 by PaneerSelvam and Sarangarajan V Iyengar, Skill-Lync is focused on providing industry-relevant and job-leading courses for engineering students and graduates across all disciplines. The company currently helps over 30,000 students from all parts of India with these courses.

In April, Moneycontrol reported that Skill-Lync had given pink slips to as many as 400 of its employees, citing tough macroeconomic conditions.

Earlier in November, the company acquired Crio, an experiential learning platform for tech careers. This was an attempt to enhance their offerings in the higher education space at a time when competition is intensifying in the segment amid a downturn in online learning.

Since 2022, nearly 100 startups have laid off close to 27,000 employees in an attempt to reduce expenses and extend their runway to focus on profitability, according to Moneycontrol’s layoff tracker.