Thread regarding Cengage layoffs

Last minute 10am meeting exactly one week before the next investor call sounds distressingly familiar.

Definitely could be bonus-related though, as Cengage is notorious for withholding bonus plans until the sales season is over, lol.

Have you already received your bonus plan? If so, there is probably reason to be concerned.

If you have not yet received a bonus plan, you could probably breath a little easier.

Either way, it's all out of your control anyway, right? So have a fun evening or do some job search pre-prep, whatever feels right to you. The good news is that the unemployment wheels are well-greased right now and that should kick in pretty quickly. The bad news is that after the 10am meeting, you might still find yourself employed with Cengage, lol.

16. S. I would not believe a syllable of the "we are doing better than the competition" b.s. First, they have no real way of measuring how well competitors are doing right now. Other PubCos have no way of even prediction how well they are doing, as no one yet knows what this summer & fall are going to look like, sales-wise. Second, when has Cengage EVER out-performed the competition over the last ten years? Certainly seems to be unlikely now. Frankly, this seems like the typical Cengage empty-speak.

16. P.S. Pearson started laying people off today. 130 individuals so far, from all accounts, with more expected to come over the next few months.

I have a 10am meeting but, my manager said it is about how they will be paying bonuses and she said not to worry that we are doing better than the competition.

Managers are starting to be called into last minute meetings. What’s going on?

Rumor is Cengage is eliminating company cars for reps.

This means anyone with a company car should have zero business miles and huge reduction in fuel use. If not you will be red flagged.

It’s true that work from home was extended to August and is likely to go past that

I have had multiple people tell me Cengage extended the work from home order to the end of August because the company wants to make sure everyone is able to take care of their kids. The fact that employees think this company gives a flying F about them after everything that has been done to us is just depressing. Kermit would throw you and your family out on the street tomorrow if it meant boosting the value of his investment by a dollar.

Cengage reps are vectors of disease now? Fantastic!

How bad is the situation at Cengage?

Over the last year, a share of CNGO stock as listed on Yahoo Finance was trading in the $12-13 range, with occasional highs reaching almost $16.00.

With the collapse of the McGraw merger, in late May the price per share cratered to 2.00 and it has remained there ever since.

In comparison, a share of Pearson (PSO) is currently 6.77. A share of Wiley, 42.52.

Cengage? Two bucks.

How will reps even be able to call on instructors? I'd be very surprised if schools let them roam around and see instructors due to the fact that they see so many people over the course of a given week, on different campuses, and could be viewed as potential carriers of COVID.

Post ID: @apcf . . . not sure how anyone might have mistaken my two posts below for HR "nonsense" but no dear, I was simply sharing the details of my dismissal and what fellow laid-off former co-workers went through. Was thinking the info might help prepare others with what to expect information and how to prepare.

For the person below asking for a prediction on the probability of layoffs happening, the answer is "no one knows." Given the naturally declining revenue, the failed merger attempt, the Covid-19 fueled revenue losses and the coming investor call however, it is not unreasonable to expect some such action.

The best advice I have is: prepare as if there is a 100% chance that you will lose your job within the coming weeks and hope for a 0% chance of that happening. Collecting a paycheck every two weeks can lull one into a false sense of security. Be smart and don't let that happen to you. Take action now to collect your records, have your resume up-to-date and ready, make sure your profiles on LinkedIn & other sites are up-to-date (or be ready to get them to that point very quickly), start composing cover letter verbiage. Be ready to hit the ground running tomorrow morning, then put all of that aside and move on with your life. Personally, I'd be conducting cursory job searches every Friday afternoon, just to get a sense of the market and perhaps discover a position or two open now that you might have interest in, but that one is up to you. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That's all you really can do.

st ID: @agep+159i1efB Spoken like a true HR shill. You must have all this nonsense saved for quick copy and paste...

@ajew+159i1efB Replace "field sales" with "marketing" and my story is identical to yours. Same for many, many former colleagues who have left the rotting shell of the ed publishing business.

@awer+159i1efB They may just announce the layoffs prior to the call and not actually execute them. That way they can still tell the investors they are "in the midst of executing a restructuring plan that will reduce costs by blah blah blah." It's hard to say what will happen for certain, but don't fool yourself into thinking that because the merger is off that things will go back to normal. The private equity owners wanted the merger for a reason, and once it was apparent it wasn't happening a private equity partner took over day to day operations of the company. The biggest selling point of the merger was $300 - 400 million in savings. They haven't forgotten that. Big changes are coming.

So there are people furloughed without pay I was told by a friend . If offices close they will lose their jobs and they might keep people remote.

Still many folks clinging inexplicably to the Titanic. Ain't gonna be enough lifeboats!

Take it from someone who left on their own terms (field sales) when I started to see the writing on the wall- you will look back and realize how underpaid and undervalued you are, how there are many companies and industries that are actually growing and not in a dying industry. I walked away proudly and will never return to higher ed publishing again. If you’re someone who leaves willingly or unwillingly give it a couple weeks or
Months- you will never look back and feel sorry for those who are there and dealing with this b—s—... which will cycle around and happen again next year right when summer kicks off... or before the holidays like I heard they did this year. Get out, you’re better than this company or any publishing company for that matter

@agep+159i1efB thank you for the invaluable advice below. Much appreciated.

On a scale of 1/10 how likely is it that we will see layoffs by 6/18? Who will be laid off first? Anyone safe? Now is probably one of the worst time in the last 50 years to be looking for a job so I want to get a head start if there is even a little chance of getting let go.

I forgot some of the "logistics" information in the post just below this one, here's the rest ...

So you are directed to phone an 800# for a "meeting" with very little notice. Little time given to fuel the gossip mill. Your Manager (if you are field-based) has been notified just ahead of time. They know nothing other than that you are being let go and they are instructed to say nothing. Call them ahead of time, they will not answer.

The HR person is matter-of-fact, but sympathetic, at least. The mid-level manager is not. They tell you that you are being let go and they are gone. The HR person reels off a list of info you need to know about insurance and future steps. Your head is reeling but you try your best to jot everything down. Cengage now employs a third-party HR service to handle everything afterward, you will be given an email address and an 800#. They are of little help - quite annoying, actually. It is what it is.

As you are dialed into this 800# call, they are busy cutting off your access to email, to the VPN, and to your cell phone. You will try to log in and discover that you cannot. You are completely and immediately cut off from customers and from co-workers, other than using your personal cell. You will be instructed on how to pack up and ship your laptop, phone, power cords, etc. to one of the tech hubs. They supply the pre-paid label, you supply the box(es). Sometimes you are asked what model of printer you have (if they don't have this on file already). If it's one they want back, you ship that in too. If it is an old model, you get to keep it.

If you feel that you might be in danger of being laid off this summer (and realistically, everyone should feel that they are in this danger, given the times), do yourself a few favors. Capture whatever phone number and contact info you want to have from your phone. Exchange personal email addresses with valued co-workers you would like to stay in touch with, if you don't have that info already. Comb through your email account and the files on your laptop forward EVERYTHING that you think you might want to keep to yourself by emailing the info to your personal email account. This especially includes any pics you have stored on the laptop, emails you would like to have record of (you have zero access to email once you dial into the phone call, as mentioned above), and any/all performance reviews & praise emails you might have stored. Anything you think might help you in your job search - secure it on your personal email account/PC now, while you still have the chance.

Getting laid off always comes as something of a shock, but few are prepared for just how cold and abrupt it really is. This is part of the reason why you read so many former employees speaking so coldly of the company now. it's all just business, nothing personal though. But for all the talk of transparency and employee value and all that, you are treated like a cruise ship passenger that had just tested positive for Covid-19. Thrown overboard and left behind as the ship sails on . . .

Prepare yourself.

Not sure what you are talking about, below. They can and may very well lay off larger numbers of home-based employees, in fact they have done plenty of that in the past.

Within a month of Hansen joining the organization, in fact, he laid off (fired, essentially) a third of the entire sales force! And it's just been continuing, in dribs and drabs and in small groups, ever since.

One mustn't forget Hansen's stated vision for the future: one sales rep per school.

The logistics are quite simple, actually. You are directed to phone an 800# in very short order - generally you are given an hour or two notice. Once you dial in, you will find yourself talking to a regional manager from somewhere in the middle of the food chain and an HR rep. The manager will "do the deed" and then quickly exit the call, leaving the HR person to mop up. This can happen individually or in groups, if a larger number is being let go at the same time.

As for the timing, this week or next seems likely (if downsizing is planned, that is) because the next investor call is on the 18th and they always need good news to report to that group. When revenues are down, especially significantly, the "good news" is that costs have been cut. Meaning people.

It would be a mistake to imagine that because events are tough right now that the company will avoid cutting people loose. It is, in fact, because times are tough that these things happen. It has been happening at other companies recently, even this week, and it could very well happen at Cengage too.

Personally I would prepare to jump immediately into the job search now, even though it is not the greatest time to do so. The sooner you start looking and pursuing, the more ahead of everyone else you will be.

Furloughed will be let go just watch

I don’t think they would lay off anyone if you are working from home. I don’t see the logistics of that happening for a big number of people at least. Where did you get next week from? Finding a job now is gonna be impossible with 40+ million out of work. Better start looking.

Does anyone know how layoffs work if you’re working remotely? Have they been mass messages or is it individual with HR? Will you have to bring in your Computer & supplies to your office? I don’t think it will be this week because everything that is going on, it would look awful, but it will happen next week before the investor call.

Plenty of reasons to bash Hansen for other than his wardrobe. He’s a narcissist, bully and a failure of a CEO.

WTF he’s European. What’s your problem?

Oh yes indeed! Cengage is certainly the real life version of Office Space! Sans the humerous connotations of course. I forgot my red Swinggline when I left!

With morale so low, does anyone bother to work these days or is Cengage the true life version of the classic movie "Office Space?"

Cengage now has a market cap of $123 million. Apparently the market doesn't have a ton of faith in Michael's "bells and whistles" strategy.

The end is officially here, those who don’t believe it are either 1. New Or 2. In denial. I am still working for cengage but I can tell you this- there are many jobs out there that are willing to pay you more. Don’t undervalue yourself, leave on your own terms. That’s my plan.

"how could they realistically cut outside sales even more while still keeping a strong front in the field competitively"

Whoever asked this question below must be a newer-hire with the company. Cengage has been downsizing its sales force, both outside and inside, for years now. Heck, one of the the very first things Michael Hansen did when taking over as CEO was to fire one third of the sales force! And it's been downhill from that point . . .

Gosh, where to start?

Cengage hasn't been competitive for years, now. With the exception of a handful of disciplines, they are rarely in the mix when it comes to the large & truly competitive adoptions up for grabs. It always comes down to McGraw, sometimes Pearson, and an independent publisher or two. And Cengage rarely wins. If they were posting their true share of wins currently, their market share and revenues would be on the rise, rather than in free-fall.

Cengage is owned by private equity. I could type paragraphs about what that means when it comes to feet-on-the-ground, but most people already get it . . .

Go back to the "Cengage Layoffs" homepage on this site and open/read the "Job Security?" thread. There you will read the thoughts of a mid-level VP of sales, the fellow who manages the pointless regional managers who manage the district managers who manage you, the sales rep. Short story: you are viewed as scum-s—ing babies milking the company for a (pitiful, frankly) salary while not delivering their expected results. Don't take my word for it - go there and read for yourself. Sales reps, and those who manage them, are not respected by more senior management, despite all of the lip-service paid to "transparency" and maintaining a positive corporate community feeling. Seriously, read these postings. It's shocking.

A few investor calls back, one investor asked Michael Hansen what his vision of the future was for the organization moving forward. He delivered a two-part answer that was almost as shocking as the VP posts mentioned above are:

1. Every account (school) is assigned one sales representative. That representative's job is to sell one thing: Unlimited.

2. All operating monies are funneled back into the company to develop more "bells and whistles and apps" (his words) for Mindtap.

Is it any wonder that Cengage is struggling to remain competitive, even under current conditions? The very things faculty (and students) do not want: under-representation, pricing schemes & "more bells & whistles" are the very things Hansen sees as being vital to the company's success in the future. Astounding. And shockingly disconnected from reality.

Finally, one of the private equity owners have installed one of their corporate raider types into the Chief Operating Officer role recently. This means that this money-grubbing, profit seeking owner has installed one of their own to take over operating decisions within Cengage. What the near future holds for employees remains to be seen but one thing is absolutely clear: private equity is not known for expanding spending and headcount. And that is an understatement.

Covid-19 is like any large crisis: it separates the weak from the healthy. This applies to small businesses, it applies to individuals up and down the pay scale, we've been watching it apply to large retailers, and it most certainly applies to higher education publishing companies.

June and July 2020 are going to be very bloody months within Cengage.

Or they sell off part of the company..??: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-05-26-top-hat-buys-canadian-textbook-business-to-compete-with-publishers-in-digital-courseware

: @2pjo+159i1efB How do they realistically cut outside sales? Are you kidding me? Outside sales isn’t paying for itself, they’re failures and so are the buffoons who support the sales teams including the do nothing out of touch district managers of those who remain are awful expensive inefficient entities themselves. The ship is going down, only ones left are the fat rats who were too lazy and unintelligent to jump ship all these years when they had the chance...

The stock just dropped 84% to $2.00 today.

A layoff would never surprise me, but how could they realistically cut outside sales even more while still keeping a strong front in the field competitively. A massive cut to the field I think would be the indicator to our customers that we are finished. Which also wouldn't be a huge shocker i guess.

@2jwk+159i1efB "They already said you still get your bonus in Oct if you get let go."

Well HI THERE! You must be new, lol . . .

Let's talk about how it really works these days at Cengage. They roll out a bonus plan late into the selling season and everyone holds onto hope. "I'm gonna make me some money!"

Then, as the sales year is drawing to a close, you get a little call from a mid-level sales manager explaining that "we've had to make some last-minute change to the base calculations ... " or "unfortunately, we experienced a large-scale return from a national vendor that has unfortunately impacted your territory ... " or even the pathetic "revenue performance did not meet our expectations and that has had a negative impact on bonus calculations . . . "

And suddenly, that $30k bonus you have earned on paper is now $17k. Or $5k. Or nothing at all.

Yep - these are actual quotes from actual phone-calls received by actual Cengage reps in recent years, all of whom had turned in winning years and got squat in return.

That is what happens when you are still employed with Cengage at bonus time.

If you've been let go in the interim?

• . .

That is the sound of silence. Crickets. No automatic deposit into that bank account. No bonus statement or even a letter of explanation arriving in your mailbox.

For folks who have been let go, THEY get to call or email a third-party HR service or a former manager (if they are still employed) and get the "er ... yeah, you see what happened is . . . " explanation.

Cengage barely pays bonuses to active employees who have been issued bonus plans in writing. Pull up that copy of your bonus plan and read the small print.

And welcome to Cengage!

@2jwk+159i1efB. If you believe bonus payouts are a sure thing, I have some fantastic swampland in Florida that I would be happy to sell you.

They already said you still get your bonus in Oct if you get let go.

@2efs+159i1efB $50 million per quarter? I would say that's about right. Employee salaries, benefits, etc cost the company about $1 billion per year. So 20% x $1 billion = $200 million/4 quarters = $50 million

@1paf+159i1efB The salary, cuts...401K, etc will probably save about $50 million. T&E and stuff like that are rounding errors. Pretty much inconsequential. We're going to need to cut $400-$500 million in expenses and the only place to cut is headcount.