Unacademy employees will receive no appraisals this year, CEO Gaurav Munjal announced last week. Munjal appeared at the company’s virtual town hall in a $400 Burberry T-shirt as he announced no salary hikes for employees, and the irony of the moment was not lost on social media users.
In his address to employees, the CEO of edtech firm Unacademy said they had not met their growth targets and therefore would not be holding appraisals for the workforce. “I think 2023 was an average year for us. But 2024, if not great, was above average. But we did not hit our growth goals. The good part is that the burn is extremely low now, and we have a huge runway. And I kept saying that we don’t have a survival risk,” Gaurav Munjal said in the town hall.
He cited headwinds, a difficult market and decreasing revenue from offline centres as reasons for Unacademy not meeting its targets.
“It’s been tough, and that’s why I have one bad news that we won’t be able to do any appraisals this year,” said Munjal. “I know I said that we will do appraisals two, three weeks ago, but when we started the process, we realised that we made a mistake.”
{{/usCountry}}“It’s been tough, and that’s why I have one bad news that we won’t be able to do any appraisals this year,” said Munjal. “I know I said that we will do appraisals two, three weeks ago, but when we started the process, we realised that we made a mistake.”
{{/usCountry}}He acknowledged that some employees have not received appraisals for two years now, but urged his workforce to look at the bigger picture. “We are the ones who are still standing while our competitors are going down one by one,” he said.
Social media reacts
A Reddit user shared a snippet from Unacademy’s town hall while pointing out Munjal’s expensive T-shirt.
The CEO of the edtech firm was seen wearing a Burberry Parker T-shirt in black. Its resale prices online go anywhere between $200 to $570. Reddit users were largely critical of his choice of apparel.
“These CEO's won't lower their own standard of living but rather stop appraisals for the people who are running their businesses,” wrote one person.
“This is the same guy who used to travel in private jets and said it is justified because his time is just that valuable,” another recalled.
“Who told him to keep unrealistic growth rate goals? If they are not making losses, every employee should get a salary hike,” a third person opined.
News of a no-appraisal year comes shortly after Unacademy laid off 250 employees to streamline operations. (Also read: ‘Building Unacademy for the long run’: CEO Gaurav Munjal after laying off 250 employees)