Over 800 Employees in an India Startup Resigned After Being Told to Work from Office Again

Now that workplace return restrictions are completely removed, would you quit your job if your boss asked you to work in the office?

For the majority of us, the answer would probably be no. However, in a start-up in India, WhiteHat Jr., over 800 employees voluntarily resigned en masse after their company informed them that they would be required to work in office.

This mainly came out of the employees’ unwillingness to relocate.

WhiteHat Jr. is a teaching platform for kids’ coding, with a focus on 1:1 online classes. It was acquired by tech giant Byju’s in 2020 for $300 million.

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The resignations ranged from the coding teams, to the sales and maths teams.

“As part of our back-to-work drive, most of our Sales and Support employees have been asked to report to Gurgaon and Mumbai offices from April 18. We have made exceptions for medical and personal exigencies and have offered relocation assistance as required. Our teachers will continue to work from home,” WhiteHatJr’s official statement reads.

The Plot Thickens

To be fair, it is notable that WhiteHat Jr has been running on major losses. It posted a total loss of Rs 1,690 crore in 2021, which translates to $302,192,280 SGD.

Some of the employees that resigned termed the company’s call for employees to work in office as a “cost-cutting exercise”, expressing that perhaps this was a strategic move to cut labour expenses, without having to cause panic by firing a large number of employees.

Some netizens also theorised that the employees jumped ship not just because of the mandatory relocation, but also because they did not see a bright future in the company given its massive losses.

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Featured Image: White Hat Jr.