Exclusive: PhysicsWallah lays off over 100 employees

PhysicsWallah (PW) has sacked 120-150 employees in what is the first instance of the layoff at the edtech company.

Sources tell Entrackr that the company made the move citing cost-cutting exercise.

“Employees across content, operations and other departments were asked to go in random meetings without concrete reasons. The numbers of impacted workforce could be even higher,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity.

PhysicsWallah confirmed that about 70-120 employees were let go but denied it was a mass firing. 

"At PW, we regularly assess performance through mid-term and end-term cycles. For the cycle ending in October, less than 0.8 percent of our workforce, ranging from 70 to 120 individuals with performance concerns—may be asked to transition…,”said Satish Khengre, CHRO, PW in a statement.

“Our primary focus remains on fostering a dynamic, high-performing team. We plan to hire an additional 1000 employees in the next six months, reinforcing our commitment to growth. We deeply value the dedication of our existing employees and recognize their integral role in shaping the future of education technology,” he added.

Founded in 2016 by Alakh Pandey and later joined by Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah offers online and offline courses and study materials for JEE, NEET and other engineering entrance and state board exams. The platform provides live classes, video lectures, test series and dynamic exercises for the aforementioned exams.

Physics Wallah recently launched an undergraduate residential engineering programme as it looks to double down on the upskilling segment.

The company turned unicorn with a $100 million round from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures in June last year. The company also made a clutch of acquisitions including Xylem Learning, PrepOnline and Altis Vortex since its entry in the unicorn club.

While the company is yet to report its FY23 financial numbers, PhysicsWallah’s revenue from operations soared 9.5X to Rs 233 crore in FY22 from Rs 24.6 crore in FY21. It also achieved an over 14X surge in annual profits which stood at Rs 98.23 crore in FY22 against Rs 6.92 crore in the previous fiscal year.  In FY23, the firm claims to have registered a three-fold jump in its revenue to Rs 780 crore.