In a bid to cut costs amid a funding slowdown, edtech unicorn Unacademy suspended the contracts of some of its doubt-solving NEET and IIT-JEE educators, according to a Moneycontrol report that quoted sources.
"On Sunday (July 31), both sets of educators (IIT-JEE and NEET) got emails stating that their contracts were suspended for a minimum period of six months," a source told the publication, adding that these educators would not be paid during the period. The company email said that the educators would receive their balance payments by Aug. 31 for services rendered till July 31.
Unacademy said in the email that it was significantly reducing doubt-solving on its platform due to "strategic changes" to its customised learning solutions, according to the report. "Thus, we have decided to temporarily suspend all deliverables related to doubt solutions as mentioned in your content provider agreement," the email said.
In April, Unacademy laid off around 600 employees on account of non-performance and role redundancy as the company looked to enhance efficiency and become profitable by the end of this year.
A severe crunch in the online learning market and a dip in funding have forced edtech platforms, including BYJU'S and Vedantu, to cut costs in the online space and foray into physical coaching centres nationwide.
DH could not independently verify the Moneycontrol report.