Korean EdTech firms resort to layoffs amid economic challenges

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South Korean education technology, or EdTech companies, which thrived on remote education during the pandemic, are reducing their workforce as they struggle to stay afloat amid challenges and economic downturns.

According to sources on Wednesday, Mathpresso, operator of the learning application QandA, where artificial intelligence identifies and provides solutions to problems based on user-submitted images, has reduced its workforce by 32.6 percent, from 224 employees as of October 2022 to 151 employees last year.

The company reported an operating loss of 35.2 billion won ($26.8 million) in 2022.

Eduwill, the leading company in the real estate broker license exam preparation, also reduced its workforce by 56.2 percent, from 874 employees to 383 employees during the same period. To overcome financial difficulties, Eduwill conducted a capital increase of 7 billion won and launched a voluntary retirement program and other measures in August last year.

Online education platform provider Class 101 also faced a considerable reduction in its workforce, declining from 334 employees to 122 employees, down 63.5 percent.