Thread regarding Cengage layoffs

@6cxe+1rcXyrzJ

The previous poster is correct. You think you know more than you actually do. Maybe marinate on that.

The goal is to transition as much into Learnosity as possible, which is served through MindTap. There was a big tech presentation about steam-lining the platforms, less things on these "guts" as were before. There are projects/courses being moved to facilitate this transition. New books/courses are being put on the "go ahead" platforms, and it seems the older books/courses will be phased out more and more, at which point the Nix contractors will be let go I assume (as there are no in-house folks supporting what is being "sunset").

And I'm not choosing the word "sunset." It's what has been quite literally used over and over in the presentations on the grand plan.

I'm not saying it makes sense. CA Tech on a whole certainly doesn't seem thrilled, and it appears there are a lot of concerns about the plans the higher ups have made in general, but it is what it is.

"CNOW, Applia, and a few others are being sunset."

Another out of touch comment, where do people come up with this stuff?

Aplia, CNOW, etc. cannot be sunset because they provide the very "courseware guts" to Mindtap. Mindtap is nothing but bells and whistles that surround the core applications that fuel the learning tools, on its own, Mindtap has little to offer. Cengage developed Mindtap to compete with the branded Connect and MyLabs, but make no mistake, the programs providing "value" within Mindtap are CNOW, Aplia, etc. Take those engines away and you're left with little more than a charms shelf and a brand name.

Mindtap itself is simple gift wrapping.

CNOW, Applia, and a few others are being sunset. MindTap is going to be serving Learnosity content, so it is still a "go ahead" platform.

The goal is to "streamline" into three platforms I think? One is MindTap (with the Learnosity content), one is WebAssign, and I forget what the third is. Regardless, all of the platforms being sunset are being transitioned to Nix vendors, and won't have any in-house support after the last of the recent layoffs have their last day, which is as late as May I believe.

You can verify these changes/cuts if you ask around for some of the CA Tech presentations and emails from late January. It appears they controlled what parts of the company saw just how deep these cuts went, so a lot of departments didn't get any notice unless they have friends in other places that could forward it to them.

"Cengage's biggest problem is they sell an avoidance product."

Yeah yeah, you are obviously out of touch dude. That tesponse would have made sense ten years ago, but today with IA and the like in place, student "avoidance" is not an issue.

What I say does not negate your very valid point on the whole clunkiness matter, though. Mindtap is ancient and cumbersome, and few enjoy using it. Last week I ran into a rep noe to a prof on campus referencing Cengage Now, which rather shocked me. CNOW was an indi (and clunky) courseware solution that became embedded in the branded giftwrapping that Mindtap was intended to be. So it was a bit surprising to see this called out by name again, as if it were still 2014. Might Cengage be discarding MTap in favor of CNOW, Aplia, SAM, etc. Now? Hard to tell from the outside, but this is intriguing.

Pearson has taken the hard nosedive into the dirt I think we were all expecting, and Cengage is right behind them, it seems. I cannot tell you how often I hear "we don't work with Pearson anymore" on campus, and I am hearing that of Cengage now, too. What Cengage DIES have going for them now is service. Rep territories are small and the reps seem more or less attentive. If Cengage does pull the expected field rep headcount reduction that many expect to happen this year or next though, all bets are off. It's going to be interesting to watch unfold.

Cengage's biggest problem is they sell an avoidance product. No one wants to willingly spend money on textbooks or learning platforms. Students hated textbooks and eventually figured out a way around them. Despite efforts to "delight the student" the vast majority see no value in overstuffed, clunky learning platforms and will avoid them too if they can.

@4qzi+1rcXyrzJ

Enrollment rates in Higher Education are declining, post-COVID most of K12 has moved to a hybrid model that doesn't heavily invest in edutech, more instructors relying on freeware or creating their own materials now that they've been introduced to new tools through LMS or LMS-like software, to name a few reasons.

In terms of strategic impact, several of the big players like Cengage decided to pour all their focus into sales and start cutting costs on content, when in reality their main issue has never been market penetration, but rather retention, and skimping on quality has only accelerated the problem.

Everywhere I read tells me that education is a growth business. What am I missing?

Cengage is owned by private equity and had a significant round of new PE investment last year. PE investors are not patient and ed publishing is not a growth business. It's clear they have decided to get a return by stripping the company of expense, and the vast majority of expense at Cengage is people.

Yes, the separation packages have been fairly decent but that can change at a moment's notice. Go on Pearson's board to see how the new private equity owners laid off half of the company with no severance whatsoever. They don't have to give at will employees anything if they don't want to.

This isn't going away anytime soon. Prepare accordingly.

@2kqx+1rcXyrzJ

Rapid decline? Cengage has been a train wreck for 15 years.

"the main reason I haven't left is that I'm looking forward to a few months of paid vacation to relax after the rapid decline we've faced so far. New comparable work isn't hard to find right now."

The (accurate) rule of thumb is that it will take you about a month of searching for every $10k per year you seek to make. I read this when starting to look and kind of rolled my eyes, but the guidance turned out to be quite true to my experience.

@1qsy+1rcXyrzJ - you are right about that. The CMs may need to work on their resumes and keep an eye out for other jobs. Cengage may take out all our CMs next year. Right now, Course Leads are training CPMs. The CPMs are a lot cheaper than the CMs. My peers aren't happy about this, but emotions are invalid to the executives and decision makers.

It's good to have pod morale, but realistically, with 90% of the 2026 titles going to CPI, you're going to lose those CMs. It makes total sense for CMs (and people that work with them) to not go out of their way to "support" the people they are being replaced by.

That all sounds pretty bad. I know people in my pod aren't big fans of CPIs/CPMs, but we do have pod solidarity. We only have a couple of CMs left in our pod, but we are showing empathy toward them, which is helping with group morale.

Maybe it's worth looking for a new job now if you're that afraid of being unemployed. Personally, the main reason I haven't left is that I'm looking forward to a few months of paid vacation to relax after the rapid decline we've faced so far. New comparable work isn't hard to find right now.

Your estimate is pretty close to mine at 8-14 months.

Greetings,

Choo Choo! Hear that? It's the sound of the Cengage Train never stoppingss at Bad Mood Station! Please adjust your attitude.

Full Stop!