Unacademy layoffs: Read full text from CEO Gaurav Munjal's letter

Dear team,

I never thought I would need to send out another message like this, but here I am. We have taken every step in the right direction to make our core business profitable, yet it’s not enough. We have to go further, we have to go deeper. Unfortunately, this has led me to take another difficult decision. We will be reducing the size of our team by 12% to ensure that we can meet the goals we are chasing in the current realities we face. I did not anticipate I would have to do this again, and I’m very sorry.

Today’s reality is a contrast from two years ago where we saw unprecedented growth because of the accelerated adoption of online learning. Today, the global economy is enduring a recession, funding is scarce and running a profitable business is key. We have to adapt to these changes, build and operate in a much leaner manner so we can truly create value for our users and shareholders.

I have conducted detailed reviews with every leader in the organisation to determine the size of the team in line with a sustainable cost structure, the skills necessary for today’s business needs and the direction each team has to take to work towards our key business goals and achieve profitability.

To those of our employees impacted by this decision, this is never the experience I hoped you would have had at Unacademy. I take complete responsibility for the way things have turned out. Your contributions to Unacademy have been pivotal in our journey so far and I will forever be indebted to you, for your faith in the leadership and the brand.

We will do our best to ensure that the parting employees receive the support they need during this time. This is how we are helping:

1. Severance pay equivalent of notice period and an additional one month’s pay

2. Accelerated vesting of one year for employees who have been with us for at least one year

3. Medical Insurance coverage for additional six months, i.e, until September 30

4. Dedicated placement and career support

For the next few days we will focus on helping our parting team members. I would like to request all leaders and teams to support this transition.