As of February 2023, a National Labor Relations Board decision prohibits employers from requiring laid off workers to keep confidential both the terms of their severance agreement and the terms and conditions of their job (which includes wages, hours, health and safety issues, etc.).
So for those who were recently let go, what does Cengage's current severance package look like?
Greetings,
Looking at last quarter's report, there is no sane reason to keep KY open. Isn't the KY office only 45 minutes from Mason? Breaking the lease would make good fiscal sense even if Cengage were in the black.
There will be no temporary pay cuts this time. Again, please take a look at the report. I am trying to remember the exact figure, but losses were about 59% post-tax. Cengage has lost about 200 million dollars in the last year.
We're entering a 'The C-suite has elected to forgo compensation for the next six months' type of situation.
From last quarter's report - and I don't think things have improved since it was issued:
On 3/31/2001 Cengage had 457.5 million dollars.
On 3/31/2023 Cengage had 269.3 million dollars.
If that wasn't bad enough, consider that at the beginning of Fiscal 2023, the company had 348 million dollars. That means in just the beginning of 2023, it lost almost one hundred million dollars (Dr. Evil's voice).
At this point, if I were at Cengage, I would be worried my paycheck would not show up. I didn't hear the First Friday call, but I would imagine they're in emergency panic mode, ala Enron, following that pesky investor call (not that Cengage did anything illegal).
What happens if:
Vendors stop accepting work from Cengage?
A rate hike? As I've been saying for about two years, the company's borrowing is tied to LIBOR and has more than doubled in the last two or three quarters, which has burnt through tons of cash. Can we afford another hike?
Lenders shut off the money? What if our lenders cut off the credit lines?
This is my biggest fear because then we'll top seeing employee paychecks. What if health insurance isn't paid?
If you're at Cengage, buckle up because it will be a wild ride. Make sure to use all of your accrued time and don't put in any additional effort. Your fate at the company has already been decided either way and your manager can't save you. You could slack and end up fine, it's going to be random by cost savings.
Come in late, leave early, take some time off.
There will be no holiday party this year. Instead there will be a potluck in the common area.
Your manager will most likely be kept in the dark about anything really material. But whenever someone tells you not to worry about it, you need to worry about it. Tons of jobs out there. Just get out!
A temporary cut in pay…? Didn’t we just get adjustments to bring us up to industry standards? What a joke.
I asked the same question to my manager. Everybody is saying that sales and the Kentucky office is prime for closure. He told me I didn't need to know and not to worry about it. I told him that email was company wide and he said worse case scenario will be a temporary cut in pay. So any information is welcomed. We just bought a new house.