Unacademy CEO Faces Backlash for No Salary Hikes Amidst $400 T-Shirt Controversy

Unacademy CEO Faces Backlash for No Salary Hikes

Unacademy CEO Faces Backlash for No Salary Hikes: Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal faces backlash after he announced that employees will receive no salary rise this year.

In the company's virtual town hall meeting video that went viral on social media, Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal said, “ We won't be able to do any appraisals this year and I am extremely sorry about that.”

This means that Unacademy will not be able to provide any appraisals for its employees this year.

However, several social media users criticized him and pointed out the irony of the situation because while announcing the updates on the company's virtual meeting Unacademy CEO was seen wearing a Burberry Black Parker T-shirt which cost $400 which is around 33,577 Indian rupees.

In the virtual meeting, while addressing employees Gaurav Munjal said that the company has been unable to make any growth targets due to which it won’t provide any salary hikes this year.

He added, “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.”

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Unacademy's CEO said that Unacademy wasn't able to reach its targets because of headwinds, a tough market, and the offline section didn’t cope up to the expectations.

Gaurav also added, “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. 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.” He also noted, “I know its tough as some of you have not got appraisals for two years.”

He further added, “ I urge all of you to look at the bigger picture. We are the ones who are still standing while our competitors are going down one by one.”

While concluding, he said, “It's tough but I am confident that if we are together, we will be able to survive this phase.”

However, the video of the virtual meeting was shared on Reddit, highlighting his $400 t-shirt. Many Reddit users criticized him and shared their opinions.

One Reddit user said, “Totally. Came across extremely disingenuous. To me it looked like he was trying real hard to not smile. Its all a joke for him. Ki main toh kama ke nikal gaya, who gives a hoot now.”

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Another Reddit user added, “But it’s the employees who end up with zero appraisal two years in a row (even though he acknowledges that the company has grown in 2024). He still has the profits. What’s stopping him from giving some appraisal? After all, the company has grown.”

A third one added, “These CEO's won't lower their own standard of living but rather stop appraisals for the people who are running their businesses.”

Earlier, in a tweet Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal said, “There is a lot being said about Unacademy currently. To set the record straight, Unacademy will have its best year in terms of growth and profitability.”

“We also have many years of runway. We are building Unacademy for the long run. Ignore the rumours.”

The company also fired 250 employees to cut costs and improve efficiency.

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