News: Job cuts continue at upGrad with 120 employees laid off in second round: report

Strategic HR

Job cuts continue at upGrad with 120 employees laid off in second round: report

Indian edtech firm upGrad, co-founded by Ronnie Screwvala, has laid off almost 30% of the workforce at its subsidiary, Impartus Innovations, for the second time, with 120 employees affected. In December, the company's other subsidiary, Harappa, also cut around 30% of its staff.
Job cuts continue at upGrad with 120 employees laid off in second round: report

Over the past few years, the education technology (edtech) industry has experienced significant growth, with many startups and established companies alike expanding their operations and services. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn have caused some edtech firms to reassess their business strategies, leading to job cuts and layoffs. Joining the list is upGrad, the Indian edtech firm that provides online courses and degree programs.

UpGrad's subsidiary, Impartus Innovations, which was acquired in 2021, has undergone its second round of layoffs, with 120 employees, or nearly 30% of the workforce, being laid off. Financial Express reported that these job cuts are an effort to cut costs at the edtech firm, which was bought for Rs 150 crore in a cash and stock deal and is run by Ronnie Screwvala.

In December, upGrad's other subsidiary, Harappa, laid off nearly 30% of its total workforce, which included approximately 60 out of 200 employees. This development occurred almost two months before Business Today reported the latest layoffs.

A Tracxn report estimated that edtech start-ups, including BYJU’S, Toppr, WhiteHat Jr, Unacademy, Vedantu, and Practically, have fired around 7,000-8,000 employees, indicating that the Indian Edtech industry is struggling during the ongoing tech winter. Additionally, several players such as Lido Learning, Udayy, Crejo, Fun, and SuperLearn, have closed down their operations due to a capital crunch and changing consumer preferences.

Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, and Phalgun Kompalli founded upGrad in 2015. The company has raised over $600 million from investors like Temasek, Bharti Enterprises, and Bodhi Tree, among others, and is currently valued at approximately $2.2 billion.

The CEO of upGrad, Arjun Mohan, announced his resignation from the company in January. He shared on LinkedIn that he would be leaving the position of CEO of India Business after almost three years of service, and his last day of employment would be January 15.

upGrad has a presence in 10 Indian cities with 30 offices and global offices in San Francisco, New York, Washington, London, Singapore, Dubai, Jakarta, Vietnam, Sydney, Melbourne, and Nairobi.

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Topics: Strategic HR, #Layoffs, #HRTech, #HRCommunity

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