Thread regarding Pearson PLC layoffs

The fact the CTO mentioned they're utilising Vibe Coding by name just points to am absolutely disconnected development team.
Nothing good comes from Vibe coding, except a quick turn around, which then leads to 40k lines of sh-t someone has to sift through when it breaks!

The fact the CTO mentioned it means they have no idea the damage this is doing, somehow. They're the chief of Tech!
How does someone that high up not see the consequences??

@11x the understanding I have is that with Pearson's partnerships with Cognizant and Deloitte, the process of hiring new staff on a permanent basis is gone.

Those companies enable Pearson to look through a catalogue and pull from a shelf, those who cater what they need for a few months at a time.

Yes it takes longer for the person to grasp the business, etc. but "maybe"they will get what they need done. Otherwise just pull another candidate from a shelf.

Remember sites like Fiver? Where you lay someone to do a task?

That's what Pearson wants. Pay to get a small task done and end the role.

@173 I think most people are aware that the job market is extremely bad currently, almost no jobs but plenty of ghost jobs. There would be quiet job searches though while paycheck keep coming as long as possible.

I wonder how many will give notice right after the bonus is paid? Looking at past calendar’s - expecting payment on March 27th.

In our division it's been established in the last year that any new hires have to be in India. It feels like they are just waiting for the balance to tip and then my team will be one of the next to go.

It's all stealth outsourcing and I would be more angry I if wasn't so scared. I'm so bad at interviews.

@n8 AB is enjoying in his private yatch while we try to make ends meet.

They have been clear about this for two years. OA is obviously bringing in his lackies and the AI rhetoric has been obvious. People shocked by all this haven't been paying attention. Yes, it su-ks. But being shocked by it comes from not listening. HR is not your friend. P doesn't care. OA is riding it until he does his contractual tenure, cashes his bonus check, and is out. I am looking at you AB.

@ah yes - this I can agree with as someone laid off in July 2025. As a manager who came in with lots of past experience it was clear to me that there were a number of ways to optimize practices - including how we actually (gasp) develop people. That started to rub a few folks the wrong way (too much noise - even though anyone who knows me would share my approach as relentlessly tactful) . After being hired to help with the very thing I was doing - which required challenging past practices - they let me go because it was too much friction (never shared as such, but I know why).

@ey unfortunately to protect myself and those involved, I cannot disclose that information.

Let's just say that we were involved in making sure that every part of the business had access to whatever decision they needed to make.

We were the pipeline that all information owed across. Based in USA and UK

What department are you in that had so many tenured employees let go?

The board is naive to su-k into what Accenture and other service providers are telling them. Pearson will be gone soon and broken down to many pieces to be consumed by these voracious service providers and cash rich software companies.

Everyone that was let go, I hope you all realise that you are far better than the ones they’ve kept. They seem to only keep yes men and women at a senior level. Anyone that dares to challenge or point out flaws is shown the door. Anyway, I hope you find a better company, which I’m sure you will. Sometimes these moments create new and better opportunities. Let them move their head quarters to India let’s see how clients react to all the offshoring.

Investors, CEOs, upper management and those who don't do the actual work just see an opportunity to not have to worry about staff.

No sick pay, no annual leave, 24/7 availability... Easy to sell the idea.

I mean type something generic into ChatGPT and it sounds convincing doesn't it?

That's all they go off.

They think it is the solution.

But, we're nowhere close to general AI. All these are are LLMs. Trained using an algorithm to predict.

Give it a basic task, sure, it will probably do an OK job.
Give it a real world problem, where the problem evolves over time. Prompts change.

It will sp-t out something it's confident in relating. But unlikely to be correct.

Vibe coding, AI slop... They still see it as cheaper than human beings.

I just hope government take a stand, considering how many white collar jobs will be gone because of this greed.