Does this mean layoffs incoming?
26 replies (most recent on top)
Think of Cengage as Canoo for textbooks.
OMFG. IPS nails it again. That actually sounds like something Der Leader would be proud to say.
@4pyr+1qDRyGjW LMS integration....now that brings back memories. I was very much involved with everything you described. We must have at least crossed paths if not worked together.
"When I worked at Cengage at the dawn of MindTap, instructors overwhelmingly told us they prioritized content over software bells and whistles"
This. A BILLION times - this!
I was participating in the MindTap development process as a field rep back when this whole thing was built. At the time, the move made sense due to two major market factors. First, schools were rolling out LMS solutions like Blackboard and there was significant faculty resistance. In response, McGraw rolled out Connect and Pearson released MyLabs. "Look, dear professor! You don't need to bother with Blackboard at all! Simply adopt this courseware that recreates the LMS experience and your textbook is built in!"
Cengage did not have a single, branded solution to compete. Instead, the company held individual & highly different solutions: Aplia and SAM and the depressingly clunky CengageNOW. MindTap served as a kind of gift wrapping to deliver these individual software solutions in a branded and identifiable manner. Thing is, MindTap is nothing BUT bells and whistles and the company went nuts with it. Translators and built-in calculators and gradebooks and complex scheduling systems. As development continued, MindTap grew to be much bigger and more complex than Blackboard. And guess what? The more cr-p you add to a program, the more there is to break. The programs at the core of MindTap were substandard to begin with, so what finally emerged was a steaming pile of functionality that few professors were really looking to adopt. But Cengage finally had their branded widget that reps could go out and sell.
And then the market changed.
Faculty resistance to Blackboard and Canvas is gone now. Indeed, LMS programs now serve as the central "hub" for each course a campus offers and no one today is in need of a sputtering MindTap that was designed to replace the LMS in the first place. The solution is redundant.
Smaller, more nimble competitors developed new courseware solutions that play nicely within an LMS. McGraw Hill pulled off a pivot. Their Connect was elegant and simple enough that it could be tweaked to do the same. Pearson? They finally got the memo, though it was years too late before they started reacting. MyLabs are now being sunset. Cengage? They've doubled down. There probably isn't money enough left to create a new wheel anyway, so they're just riding MindTrap until the wheels finally fall off.
As for content, what does that even mean these days within Cengage? The company does not even employ editors anymore, now there are "Product Managers" whose function is to oversee the outsourced development (if we're calling it that). Authors have responded by bolting to a competitor the moment their contracts allows, and faculty have responded by - you guessed it - seeking out better content.
Here is the shame of it all: the Thomson family chose very wisely when selecting individual PubCos to purchase when seeking to put together their publishing empire. Southwestern was the top publisher in the Business arena. Delmar was top dog in tech and trades. Brooks Cole dominated the math scene, Wadsworth was similarly tops in humanities. The company that became I.T.P. was built on very solid bones.
Hansen & Cengage has failed because they failed to recognize the very real value they were bringing to the education table. Faculty ordered prime rib when adopting ITP material and Cengage somehow managed to grind all of that delicious meat up into a very unsatisfying meatloaf.
It's so easy to spot the real IPS vs the imposters! Welcome back IPS!
That is an all time IPS post.
Cengage is the Canoo of textbooks? Holy s--t. I sp-t up my coffee.
That's an incredibly deep reference. Did IPS go to the auto industry?
I can’t stop laughing at the latest IPS post. You, my friend are a national treasure. I’m gonna buy you a beer one of these days. We probably know each other!
Love the “market to students” strategy. Yeah students who universally hate you and pirate your content 24-7. At least professors sort of appreciated you back then.
When I worked at Cengage at the dawn of MindTap, instructors overwhelmingly told us they prioritized content over software bells and whistles. Leadership hated this message so much that they decided to ignore professors entirely and market directly to students because they would view MindTap as an iphone for textbooks or something ridiculous like that. I am not at all surprised to learn that smaller, content-focused publishers are growing again. We gave away that ground to them. It's absolutely hilarious to hear that the company is doubling down again on outsourcing content production and further eroding quality.
@4ivp+1qDRyGjW Wow. Good to hear. Death by a thousand cuts is a pretty solid strategy for a smaller more nimble company to adopt. The benefits of scale for large companies have pretty much been made irrelevant.
"Are these companies actually growing? I'm not trolling here. Legitimately interested."
Omg, yes. Many years in double digits. It feels like "the old days" at these companies in many ways. Life is truly good in that sector, save for the obvious pressures like OER.
"Norton and Oxford and the like. Not only have they plucked the best discarded talent from the shipwrecked pair, they continue to innovate and expand their offerings."
Are these companies actually growing? I'm not trolling here. Legitimately interested.
Greetings,
The difference between Cengage and the tired old businesses that are trying to enter its space is simple.
The 'competition' consists of publishing companies that are outdated and irrelevant. Cengage is on the bleeding edge of Ed-Tech, a vertical that it not only created but dominates with no competitor in sight.
Let me be clear, there is slight overlap as the industry transforms. For example, the automobile industry has transformed from an environmentally unfriendly fossil fuel-polluting industry to a green business. Some of the old players, such as General Motors and Honda, are circling the drain with their dirty gas-powered vehicles that a small number of uneducated Wal-Mart shoppers may think they want, but companies like Rivian and Bright Automotive have redefined the space.
Think of Cengage as Canoo for textbooks.
At Davos, I was reminded of the importance of Cengage's commitment to its partnership with the community it serves and the environment. We are in uncertain times due to the threat of a totalitarian fascist regime's return to power, along with the grave threat that climate change poses to all of us. Many attendees stopped me to comment on my dynamic and exciting new belt but pledged to help me avoid deportation if the unthinkable happens.
In these times of uncertainty, members of the Cenforce need to embrace the change that comes with being disrupters. Embrace change, do not sit back, and take comfort in our past success. As many of you know, Cengage Unlimited has been an unmitigated success with activations we could only dream of. The 'competition' has yet to begin to formulate a plan to compete as we've transformed the way students learn while earning the admiration and respect of educators, students, and the Ed-Tech space.
With change comes the inevitable shedding of the dead weight and the rigid. While Cengage will never engage in conventional layoffs necessitated from a revenue standpoint, there may come a time when a strategic realignment designed to enhance revenue and better serve our internal, external, and environmental customers becomes necessary. Soon, many of you will learn of an exciting business update designed to better serve the Company!
Full Stop!
"There are no competitors. Just broken old dead businesses."
Ah, but Cengage is surrounded by competitors, each ripping its pound or two of flesh from the bloated Cengage and Pearson carcasses season after season.
McGraw Hill? They still act like a publisher, more or less. Regular revisions, decent courseware, even brand new first editions. Sadly, they are also run by PE but at least they are still very much in the game.
The real competitive source of decline are those smaller, more nimble competitors. Norton and Oxford and the like. Not only have they plucked the best discarded talent from the shipwrecked pair, they continue to innovate and expand their offerings. Who is going to adopt MindTap, which is two generations old, when they can easily use a modern solution built for today's mobile environment?
The publishing business is thriving. Just not for Cengage. Oh well.
@1yko+1qDRyGjW There are no competitors. Just broken old dead businesses.
Greetings,
There will be no layoffs. A realignment of resources will be taking place to better implement long-term strategic plans that have been designed to allow more successful navigation of market changes.
Full Stop!
In another thread someone mentions content management, digital production, and learning design all going out to CPI. I definitely expected the first two, but has anyone been hearing rumors about learning design being the next on the chopping block?
"If they are going to lay us off they really need to give us a couple weeks notice"
Ha! But this is not the Cengage way, dontcha know! No, the end comes swiftly and with no forewarning in Cengageland ... one hour you are wiling away, tending to the tasks of the day, and the next you find yourself in a surprise meeting with HR. Not for the weak willed, is this company.
I wouldn't say Gale is in trouble, but I know Gale leadership has been doing a deep dive into the profitability of the entire product portfolio as part of Project Horizon, and announcements about phaseouts are expected next week. Which means layoffs. Don't know about other parts of the company.
@1yko+1qDRyGjW I’m sure a competitor would have a better means than posting on this anonymous site. Im asking relating to accepting a job working on the platform
If they are going to lay us off they really need to give us a couple weeks notice.
Sounds like a competitor fishing for info...
@kdy+1qDRyGjW why do you think Gale is in trouble? Do you know anything about the other groups outside of higher ed? Milady? National Geographic?
January 22nd is next week
Hi, new here, can someone comment on the ed2go platform? Profitability, prospects for those involved
A comment from another post says the layoffs are happening the week of January 22nd which is the deadline for the engagement survey. Two meetings scheduled so.far ahead of time isnt good. What is good anymore anyway.
That was my first thought. They're definitely coming at Gale. Product portfolio sunsetting announcements are forthcoming and that will definitely mean layoffs.