Chaos at upGrad⁠— mass resignations pour in as angry employees refuse to relocate instantly

• Over a 100 employees have resigned in the last few days, Business Insider has learnt from sources.
• The management was pushing its employees to report back to office, in Mumbai or Bengaluru, as reported by Business Insider earlier this week.
• Many of those who were asked to move were not offered added remuneration or temporary accommodation to ease the shift.

There’s chaos at Ronnie Screwvala’s upGrad as over a hundred employees have resigned over the company’s new policies, sources told Business Insider. For a firm that added strength to over 2,000 in the last few months, it is not clear if these resignations were really a shock, or an intended consequence aimed at weeding out the non-performers.

Business Insider reached out to upGrad for comments and the copy will be updated with responses when the company responds.

Business Insider had earlier reported that the management is pushing its employees to report back to office, in Mumbai or Bengaluru.

Several employees told Business Insider that resignations have started pouring in. “People don’t want to move cities, especially when there’s no hike being offered. There are many employees who have ailing parents or other family issues and it’s not possible to completely uproot yourself within days,” a source told Business Insider.

Even those who were hired for Gurugram, Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad are now being asked to relocate. Many of those who were asked to move were not offered added remuneration or temporary accommodation to ease the shift. For several employees, moving from a Tier-II city to a metropolitan city like Mumbai or Bengaluru, comes with many added costs.

“It’s not possible for someone to move to an alien city, find accommodation and set up a base within days. Moreover, the company has clearly indicated that we have to do this on the one off day we have,” said another employee requesting anonymity.

upGrad’s rush could also be as it hopes to meet its targets after a windfall year. With the edtech boom in 2020, upGrad too was one of the beneficiaries. The company by the second quarter of FY20 had already recorded 50% revenue growth. It has also expanded to Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe, UK, and North African markets.

Revenue FY19	Revenue FY20	ARR FY21 (Annual Recurring Revenue)
₹85 crore	₹163 crore	₹1200 crore

Source: Media reports and company press release

The CEO at upGrad, Arjun Mohan⁠— who was earlier a top executive at BYJU’s ⁠— told employees that they won’t be given any time for “travel, shopping, settling down, relaxing down etc. All of this has to happen on the off day of Monday”. The email was also viewed by Business Insider.

According to many employees that Business Insider spoke to, the working days for sales employees have been increased from five to six, and working hours, too, have been increased. “Earlier, sales employees used to get compensation for the sixth day, which means in one year they got almost one month extra salary, and now that has been removed,” said one of the employees who hasn’t resigned yet.

upGrad is also reportedly in talks with Temasek and World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to raise $100 million, at a valuation of $500 million.


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EXCLUSIVE: upGrad is rushing its employees back to Mumbai and Bengaluru⁠ offices⁠— and relocating many without more money or temp accommodation