More like the SS Minnow
16 replies (most recent on top)
"we're almost done reorganizing.... the deck chairs on the Titanic"
If their lips are moving, then they are lying.
At Pearson, layoffs are always coming. Back in 2012, that useless blowhard wastrel Foul-an blabbed that "we're almost done reorganizing" and then wham, more layoffs in 2013 and every year since.
All that came after the incredibly insipid "bullseye" campaign where Pearson breathlessly gushed (as if no one ever before in thousands of years of history had thought of it) "We're putting the learner at the centre of all we do!" Remember that load of horsecrap?
@4oqu+1mziLzaB. AI is definitely not a scam. And it will destroy NAHE. It has already emboldened students to not purchase required materials and it will sure as heck embolden professors who know most of the content development these days is outsourced or just managed revisions that add little value.
This is why you will see Pearson go all in on anything NOT focused around selling traditional content.....like content where you read words.
Its pretty hard to use Chat GPT in a proctored teacher license exam.
@3fle+1mziLzaB AI is not a scam. Sure, like everything else it's overhyped and will take time to replace a noticeable percentage of current workforce - but for your own sake, spend more time reading into capabilities because I think your idea it adds no value is way off.
Crux of the matter for Pearson is in your later point "Not the way that Pearson implemented it" - that's the truth here. Our technology department couldn't organise a p* up at a brewery so ironically we'll be one of the last companies to replace people with AI because we're incapable of delivering any technical change without f*ing it up.
AI is a scam. It's just being used as an excuse to put fear into people, or to fire them.
If you believe that "AI" is going to take over everything, then you're just believing what some person on TV or YouTube is being paid to say, or some mid-level manager or executive who jumps on trends.
Pearson gave away POLS because it was losing $32 million a year. What does that say about the current C-suite? It says they cannot run the company, don't know the business, and are incompetent.
But I'm sure most of them, if you stuck a microphone in their face, would have glowing things to say about "AI". They'll act like trained seals, sitting there clapping at nothing. Kind of like when everybody thought $300 textbooks were going to continue on forever.
Where is there any proof that "AI" does anything real or provide any value? There is none. It's just another crypto billionaire trick and scam. And don't say, "Oh, it will get better in the future..." - where is the proof? It just showed up out of nowhere, fooling people left and right.
Does anybody remember when CMM or CMMi took over Pearson in the 00s? Then it was Six Sigma? Did that work? Did Agile really improve anything? Not the way that Pearson implemented it. I remember when they consolidated some offices years ago, and I had to drive many more miles to work, I was told that everybody being in one place would create "synergies". No, it didn't. Then I was told there would be huge productivity gains if we all sat in an open office watching our co-workers burp and pick their noses. That didn't happen. We were on Outlook, then Google Mail, then back to Outlook. Sharepoint is going to fix everything. Outsourcing HR to Malaysia was going to improve everything. The intranet NEO was going to bring everybody together. Make sure you salaried employees get your timesheets in to Oracle by Friday afternoon otherwise the entire company will grind to a halt.
AI will make it easy to cut a lot of positions especially in editorial, marketing, production, and IT. It will also make it easy for instructors to stop requiring students to pay hundreds of dollars per term for course materials.
@1ujm+1mziLzaB Sure global learning is a multi billion dollar business, but there is now way to aggregate or scale it.
Pearson is the largest in the world and it’s $5bb in revenue, by big company standards, is insignificant.
Pearson did not build a business from scratch. It’s bought up dozens if not hundreds of companies over the last 30 years.
There’s just no real scale to be had.
A large number of people in Sri Lanka were laid off this week. You know, the team that builds the platforms. I guess we dont need them anymore because of AI?
I’m sure there will be but who, what, where, etc. no clue.
I’d point out the learning market globally is huge. Hundreds of billions huge. That focus is very relevant. Doing it in higher ed selling to educators with shrinking course sizes is what is lunacy. If NAHE doesn’t start pivoting they are done for.
Maybe workforce skills can help. If they weren’t so against being part of Pearson. You know you got issues when the reputed leading brand in learning’s sales teams don’t want to associate themselves with Pearson
Andy and his diverse group of mask-wearers from other industries will turn it around.
Yeah right
Nah. Double down on the bet that education is a “growth industry.”
Make sure your résumé is up-to-date because at any moment you may need to use it.
Increase your skills and connections regularly as well.
Don't worry.
Pearson is all about regular layoffs.
So, it's going to happen anytime.
Keeps you on your toes and makes you keep your skills up to date.
Cheers
Or is the rest of this month safe?