Employees at Byju disclose a hazardous work environment, saying "We are treated like slaves."

 Internal emails and WhatsApp conversations reveal how some of Byju's employers coerce and threaten employees into working more than 72 hours per week.

According to a recent inquiry, Byju's employees assert that the success of the business is based on an abusive and exploitative work environment and dishonest sales practises, such as selecting individuals from low-income families and forcing them into purchasing Byju's courses.In 2015, Byju's, a company founded in 2011, released its first learning app. As the country's growing middle class flocked to one of the biggest tech hubs in the world in search of work and financial security, Byju's quickly expanded into a multibillion-dollar behemoth and became India's top edtech company.

Context conducted interviews with 26 salespeople (18 current and 8 former), who spoke about their challenging working conditions, which included excessive hours, verbal and physical abuse, and a culture where staff are encouraged to deceive clients in order to make sales.Emails, business contracts, and audio recordings of phone calls and meetings show that some supervisors at Byju's require their employees to put in more than 72 hours per week and forbid them from taking breaks or leaving the workplace if particular objectives aren't met.

Byju's employees, many of whom are first-generation college graduates or came from low-income households, claim they put up with the unpleasant climate out of fear of losing their employment in India's competitive labour market.22 of Byju's clients were interviewed by Context, and many of them said that they had been forced into taking classes, duped into taking out loans, and eventually lost money with nowhere to turn.Former Byju's salesman Pratik Makhija, who worked there twice, claimed to have experienced "daily mental agony."

The 27-year-old claimed examples of this included his manager yelling at him, making him work seven days straight, and inciting rivalry among coworkers.You have the impression that you are trapped at the bottom of a well or in a bubble with no means to escape and take in the surroundings. Work and life balance don't exist. Zero," declared Makhija, who had left Byju's after working there for 18 months in January 2021.We receive slave-like treatment. What price do they pay to maintain their valuation and revenue? By smothering us," he continued.

Makhija claimed he returned to Byju's in July for financial reasons, but was suspended for one month in August after complaining about the aggressive behaviour of his supervisors. In October, he left the company once more but claimed he is still "haunted" by the behaviour of his superiors, who he claims manhandled and yelled at him.Makhija, who is now jobless and looking for work, said, "It got so severe that I had to seek professional help, and eventually got diagnosed with anxiety." "I have awful flashbacks."

In response to Context's story, a Byju's official stated that the employees who came forward represented a "infinitesimal proportion" of the company's workforce and that Byju's had "zero tolerance for unfavourable behaviour in the workplace."In response to complaints from customers, Byju's stated that the business is "focused on customer respect and satisfaction" and that staff members are not to "pursue customers who are either disinterested in or unable to pay for our merchandise."