What does it say about a company whose employees are always wondering when the next round of layoffs will be or worse - are thankful that another week has gone by without one? I’m noticing how it is affecting the mindset of my colleagues as well as our productivity. I hate that people are jumpy and on edge, but who could blame them? Some transparency from the company would be great, but I know that’s too much to ask for.
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@4phu+18cXhGjJ MT content production is being off shored?
@4phu+18cXhGjJ And then the hatchet comes out for sales. This is not a guess.
Very true. Thomson's Custom folks were great. The Art Department was also great but was one of the first to go. Then Manufacturing was sold off, yet the employees still work at Cengage for less money.
However, the move that is going to be pushed big time is going to pretty much eliminate any MT production being done by Cengage employees.
Contracts are being negotiated and processes are being finalized for a radical transformation. The last pieces of MT production are going to be off shored with Product taking up what little left there is to do. I don't know if there are any plans to keep any of the Production staff past March.
When Cengage was Thomson we had a top notch custom group and way back then profs could build their own books online. I'm not talking about making a book loose-leaf either. To my knowledge only one of those folks is still with Cengage
Some of us during this stressful time use these quiet moments at home to wash and prep all the ingredients we need to properly stew a big sloppy hot, wet pot of organic soup. We take all the time necessary to insure it’s done proper with the right amount of heat and rhythmic stirring to make sure it’s all evenly cooked so that when it’s finally ready it’s delicious and soothing.
I was a front line content employee at Cengage 5 years ago. 80% of my job consisted of coordinating production files being shipped to or from India. The other 20% was shuffling paperwork related to our contributors and outside copywriters and proofreaders. Absolutely none of the writing or proofing was done in house. The only in house work was running the coded files through macros looking for formatting errors. It was the most brain numbing job I have ever had in my life. Even then they were looking for more ways to hollow out and outsource our jobs. I saw the writing on the wall and got out of the industry entirely. I can't even imagine what's left.
Isn’t being jumpy and on edge in the credo? A lot of the Content side lacks transitional skills that have any value outside of the publishing world. Cengage has transitioned to the Educational Technology space and so many of these folks are even less valuable to the company.
There is value in the content Cengage owns. I know MindTap production is being shifted more and more oversees and there are pilot programs being floated to allow instructors to build their own custom courses, or to have Cengage do that for them vs Unlimited or the standard course model.
We are heading to an outsourced custom model sooner than many want to believe or know about. Now that our content is pretty much free customization is the last “value add” that the C team is going to try.
This is Darwinism at its finest. The people who make the decisions care only about themselves and their families. Ask yourself. Would you give up your job and income or would you sacrifice someone else?
I don't know why the narrative exists that the company actually cares about your mindset or whether employees are jumpy and unsettled. Whether you are productive or not at your job means very little to the company. Almost nothing. Because you can easily be replaced. And there will be others who will gladly take your job or work to save theirs.
Its a free marketplace. If you don't like it, quit. If you aren't good enough to land another job, thats on you. And its not like this meltdown started yesterday. What rock have you been under?