'Just take a pay cut': Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal slammed for announcing no appraisals wearing a $400 Burberry T-shirt

Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal was slammed online for announcing no appraisals for his employees while wearing a $400 Burberry T-shirt. 

The irony of delivering the disappointing news in such an expensive outfit was not lost on social media users. During the virtual town hall, Munjal explained that despite an above-average performance in 2024, the company failed to meet its growth targets, necessitating the halt in appraisals. 

"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," he was seen as saying in a video that has gone viral. 

Munjal attributed Unacademy's failure to meet targets to market challenges, headwinds, and declining revenue from offline centers. 

"It's been tough, and that's why I have one bad news: we won't be able to do any appraisals this year. I know I said we would two or three weeks ago, but we realized we made a mistake." 

He acknowledged that some employees hadn't received appraisals for two years and urged them to see the bigger picture.

On social media, users quickly noted Munjal's expensive T-shirt. One remarked, "These CEOs won't lower their own standard of living but stop appraisals for the people running their businesses." 

Another suggested, "Just take a pay cut! That money could have been used for employee appraisals. The ratio of CEO's salary to an average employee's salary is still too huge."

The video of the virtual town hall held last week saw users calling it the “worst apology” ever. The irony of the moment was noted in the caption of the post: “This is Burberry Black Parker T-shirt with embroidered logo. Yeah agreed that one shouldn't go after their personal stuff. But it is what it is.”