Indian Edtech firm under fire for locking employees at office, forbidding them to leave without permission

By Abhik SenguptaIndian Edtech firm Coding Ninjas is facing heat from various social media users after one of the company’s offices locked the doors of its entrance to prevent employees from leaving without the manager’s permission. A video, which has been widely shared on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook, shows an office guard locking the main entrance door on the order of a manager. Coding Ninjas has also responded to the incident and said that the “regrettable action” occurred in one of the four offices. The company founders have also expressed their “regret and apologised to all the employees.”

The video was shared on LinkedIn by Himanshu Atal, co-founder of Unique Imprints, and initially reported by Business Today. Atal’s post notes that “employee exploitation and degrading working environment in the corporate world is a new trend.” He suggests that mainly “freshers or junior employees” were exploited and restricted from leaving the office. The video shows the glass door with the name of the office embedded. The office guard is also visible in the video can be clearly heard that he was following the orders of one of the company managers.

While arbitrarily locking doors could pose a big threat during fire hazards, many social media users are furious at Coding Ninjas for fostering a “toxic” culture. Users have also commented on Atal’s posts, saying it is a new low for Indian start-ups. The original post on LinkedIn has been reshared 140 times.

Meanwhile, Coding Ninjas has offered clarification in a series of tweets. The company states that the incident took place in one of its offices. The company’s main office is located in New Delhi.

One of the tweets also adds that the action by one of the employees was “unintentional” and does not reflect the “core values” of the company. The tweet by Coding Ninjas reads, “Over the last seven years, we have built this company with love and a deep passion to solve India’s skill gap, and it is unfortunate to see this incident unfold. We regret the inconvenience this incident has caused to all concerned.”

Another tweet adds, “In light of the incident, the founders expressed their regret and apologised to all the employees. This was an isolated incident and we are taking proactive measures to ensure this is not repeated. Disciplinary action is being taken against the concerned employee.”

Coding Ninjas was founded in 2016, and the company aims to “bridge the knowledge gap between colleges and industry.” The Edtech firm teaches over 17 programming and development courses, including machine learning, data science, Android, and more. The company has over 150 employees.