Seems like it’s the same people who are always worried about layoffs. Other people think upcoming changes won’t affect their world. Why or why not are you worried this time?
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I'm starting to think IPS is in the C-suite... But who?
Right or wrong, that propaganda deck keeps stakeholders at every level—from the KY warehouse to the Boston boardroom—from panicking and jumping ship.
The reality of work these days is that your company does not care about you, individually. You can argue a company cares about its employees and their wellbeing, but where an individual employee might picture themself as a rock, the corporation just sees more gravel. The company will make sure that the gravel is neat and tidy and serving its purpose, but if it loses some pieces here and there, it’s no big deal. And this goes for even the highest levels—no single person is irreplaceable. The company just grinds on until there is literally nothing left. If you don’t want to be crushed under its wheels, you have to take steps to protect yourself and your way of living, no matter what anyone, be they strangers on the internet or business analysts in a quarterly report, tells you.
IPS,
I went back and read your post. It is chillingly prescient. All the answers are in the financial statements - you just have to get past the propaganda deck to see what is really going on.
Greetings,
I quickly analyzed last quarter's reports a few weeks back and predicted as much. This seems in line with my thinking at the time.
Has our dear leader announced the closing of KY yet?
We are definitely going to see cuts on my team. I’m not worried because I have savings, enough tenure to get at least a few weeks’ severance, and I’m tired of the BS. If I keep my job, great, and if not, I welcome the break and new opportunities ahead.
I've been through purges at Cengage and other companies. I was at a company that did a 15% culling and it was severe.
They won't be thoughtful about it because basing it on performance opens them up to lawsuits. You can't fire someone and cite performance if you haven't documented it over time. Being a high performer will not save you, though it probably helps. Most likely they will set it up to seem as random as possible. The company I was with that did the 15% cut showed everyone a random list of people's demographics who were cut so they could claim it was not based on age or salary. However, they will try and go after bigger salaries because one of those roles can equate to 2-3 junior roles. It makes it easier to balance workload afterwards if you can go after more middle and upper managers.
Bottom line is it will likely seem completely random, and that is by design. In some areas entire teams will be hit and other areas will be barely touched. At least that's been my experience with these types of planned layoffs.
@mxs+1oz71m9m Is right because for most companies the biggest cost is payroll. Especially a company like Cengage. I hope that they are thoughtful when they eliminate positions, because a lot of times it’s just an analyst drawing a line and everyone below that line goes.
People really don't understand the scale of this yet. I've been at Cengage 9 years and have seen lots of layoffs without getting too worried, but, this is the first time I actually feel vulnerable. Realistically how much of the 15% cost savings are going to come from royalties and workflow improvements? If it's more than 3-4% I'll be surprised. The rest is going to come from the company's biggest cost - payroll. That means at least 10% of the entire company is getting layed off - and maybe even more when you consider those jobs getting outsourced, which, still costs the company money. So yeah I'm worried.