Honestly, I thought this year would be much better for Cengage. Instead, working here is increasingly miserable. Many can't wait for the layoffs, few think that next year will bring anything better here.
Are we all gonna have to quit and look for something better or can leadership do something to fix things here?
@9ccj+1evt7KXH There is one path outside of a merger, which really doesn't do anything for anyone outside of the fat cats and that is to raise prices. There are no new markets to conquer. There is no Blue Ocean Strategy.
This is a bit of a stretch because I never would compare any educational publishers to General Electric, which was founded by Thomas Edison, but very similar to GE, time has simply passed the business by, and leaders, since the late 1980's simply kicked the can down the road until the cliff appeared. They are all now dead or very happily retired. And the carcass is someone else's problem.
GE was floundering, even during the tenure of Jack Welch, who at the time was considered one of the greatest CEO's in history. Very similar to Educational Publishers in the 1990's and 2000's, he cooked the books, made d-mb acquisitions, invested in the wrong businesses and laid off over 100,000 people. During this time, there was zero organic growth. It worked for a while and he created immense shareholder value, but it all came crashing down. Sound familiar?
Today, GE is a shell of its former self. It's not even a component of the DOW anymore.
This will be the fate of Cengage, Pearson and McGraw.
@9ytx+1evt7KXH Not to mention that enrollments are going to be down for a good while. Demographic trends and the labor shortage means that the entire higher education sector is going to be feeling a lot of pain for a while. Outside of stealing a large amount of share from a competitor, which almost never happens in this industry, there is no path to growth or even sustainability.
@sku+1evt7KXH makes a really good point in this thread - now isn't a good time to be in this industry. With the current level of debt driven from private equity and the general trends in education that the company is intrinsically reliant upon, there is no difference in who is leading Cengage (or Pearson, or MGH) outside of some very particular branches of these companies that, in all honestly, should be spun off. Cost cutting and riding on what's left for as long as possible is the only thing keeping the company afloat.
Why would you think the new year would be any better? SMH
@1bwg+1evt7KXH. Management has always been incompetent. The same people that walked around NSM's pounding their chests have now been relegated to job-hopping every 12 months or have retired, (better to be lucky than good.)
You are right though. The technology is horrible. No users really care about it, except to hate on it. Professors used to be able to take your sample copy and throw it on the pile in their mess of an office or sell it to a used book dealer. At least hard copies made for good coasters for their coffee mugs.
Things haven't changed, it's not getting harder either. What's really happening is that you've been here long enough to realize the complete and total incompetence of those either above or below you. You've also been around long enough to notice the platforms don't work, they never did. Your professors and students are fully aware of this, but because you've been immersed in the Cengage religion and been constantly distracted and molested by their high priests and priestesses you haven't noticed until now that you're pushing a horrible product with horrible service. Congratulations, you've been red pilled you are now 'aware'.
@OP+1evt7KXH I'm not sure this is even a real post. Cengage has been an "unmitigated" disaster for 15 years. You either just fell off the turnip truck or are so out to lunch that you are unemployable. I recommend staying where you are.
Despite the smoke and mirrors of the investor call, 2Q was bad and 3Q will also be poor, if not worse. Omicron, low unemployment, and basic demographics will ensure that. This means the year will be bad...again.
You and your colleagues in the industry are unfortunately just a product of timing. 20 years ago, the same petty, mostly untalented and elitist people worked in the business. Just change their names with the names of today's Cengagers.
They (we) were just lucky to be working in publishing in those times. The internet and past sins of completely unscrupulous management had not yet destroyed the business. We thought we were actually good! Nah. We were just in the right place at the right time.
You are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
All I know is that on Dec. 31, 2000, I took my girlfriend out to dinner, drank a couple really expensive bottles of wine and waited to pocket a $60,000 bonus check. Which I did in March.
I wasn't any better or worse than anyone currently at Cengage. I was in the right place at the right time.
The sooner that you understand this concept, the better.
I am going to wait around and see what leadership does, its tough but I know it will get better, if layoffs come I expect a big severance. So it's a win win if I hang out and do nothing. I mean nothing, just not getting involved until I see where next year heads.