I heard layoffs are coming the week of 4/22. Across all businesses 🥲
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@9iwf+1s5Zazd6 Your post is so true. And I wish people actually understood. I spent 25 years in the business trying to innovate.
It’s a fools errand. The goal is to make widgets.
If you want to innovate start a company, which is really hard or join a small company.
It’s that simple
@9qgl+1s5Zazd6 I was somewhat joking when I said Cengage's US operations would eventually consist of 4 consultants moving numbers around spreadsheets. But make no mistake that is their goal. The past 10 years have proven that innovating in ed publishing does not bring larger returns. If its just a matter of churning out low quality digital content slop for the student masses, they can engineer that for pennies on the dollars they're currently paying US employees. I think the pain has just started.
It's a consultant's wet dream.
When APAX first took over, they went hard at consolidating content production and offshored as much as they could. The new private equity owners are going to make that feel like a pin pr--k. I imagine they (their consultants) are looking at every possible avenue to reduce content production including AI. They have made it clear their intent is to completely strip mine the company's operations to conserve cash and fatten the balance sheet. There is no way the company can grow organically and they know it.
Get. Out. Now.
In Digital Project Management, 5 roles eliminated.
Within Latin America Higher Education (HED), a transition to an outsourced distributor model has led to the elimination of dedicated HED sales, marketing, and product teams in the region.
In the US Higher Education (HED) Sales operating model:
Digital Success Manager and Customer Success Manager roles are being eliminated.
Key Account Digital Success Specialist and Digital Fulfillment roles have been consolidated into two new roles: Customer Success Specialists and Implementation Specialists.
Institutional Sales management has been consolidated into one team, resulting in the elimination of Institutional Account Manager and Engagement Manager roles.
Adoption Sales has undergone restructuring, resulting in the elimination of Cherie’s position.
The Supervisor of AC&R Seasonal Support role has been eliminated.
Supervisor roles within the Global Operations Service Experience (SX) have been phased out.
Managerial roles within SX have been eliminated.
Quality Assurance (QA) function roles have been eliminated.
Senior Strategic Operations Manager and Senior Operations Manager roles have been eliminated.
Various positions within the Digital Technology Services (DTS) and Cengage Academic (CA) Technology teams have been phased out.
Outsource Security Operations Center (SOC) roles have been eliminated.
So what % of the company was laid off in this round?
"You think this is bad you should see what they are doing to finance."
Fill us in
You think this is bad you should see what they are doing to finance.
Looking at this thread it’s clear who works at Cengage and who has found greener pastures
"I’m not someone so worn down by life that I expect the company I work for to treat me like garbage."
Sorry, but it seems both of you in this conversation are a bit off the mark. Few (if any) companies are going to send a polite email stating, "oh hey, we're going to cut you loose next month" when it's time to lay people off. That's simply not the way the world works.
The "transparency" box was checked when the blanket heads up was issued last summer: hey everyone, downsizing is coming over the next year and a half. THAT is a lot more than most companies offer, as unsettling as the announcement was for most.
"Well maybe they will not lay anyone off for awhile. So I guess we can all take a breather."
Don't count on it. It's not even a year into the 18ish month downsizing period that was announced last summer, after all. Sales-side changes are still to come and will likely hit in May-June, once the bulk of the fall sales work has been completed.
Rather than take a breather, prepare yourself for the possibility of being laid off. Honestly, you should already be there given the ample warning the company has given its staff but if you are not, now is the time. Resume polish, LinkedIn updated, and start sending those feelers out there. Hopefully you won't need them, but you don't want to be playing catchup when or if the time comes.
Well maybe they will not lay anyone off for awhile. So I guess we can all take a breather.
In response to @8htn+1s5Zazd6: your opinion is your own, but your ad hominem response is purely lazy. That attitude—that there is no such thing as transparency—is precisely how leadership justifies to themselves both their failure to provide it and the benefits they reap from failing to provide it. And anyone buying into that same attitude perpetuates it, leadership or not.
While I might be a clueless idealist, and I might even be a liar, I’m not someone so worn down by life that I expect the company I work for to treat me like garbage. They can do better. So can you.
"It’s really sad but Cengage has been a disaster since the Thomson family fleeced APAX."
Ain't THAT the truth! And it was a bit of a sh*tshow under Thomson too, frankly. Remember, all those "little" pubcos the Thomsons bought up were #1 or #2 in their chosen disciplines as independent publishers back in the day.
It’s always been that way. Transparency is a bullsh-t word thrown around by people who darn well know that it does not and will not ever exist in reality.
If I hear someone use that word, I know they are:
- A clueless idealist
- A liar
It’s really sad but Cengage has been a disaster since the Thomson family fleeced APAX.
In response to post ID @7ned+1s5Zazd6: you’re right that businesses need to stay profitable and sometimes to do that they have to evolve. The problem lies in a) how these changes are rolled out—little transparency, lots of secrecy, zero access to leadership, cabals in closed-door meetings to handpick who stays and who goes—and b) why the changes are made: as a cost-cutting measure. These changes aren’t made to benefit the operation of the company; they’re made to free up cash, reduce headcount and payroll, and give existing roles more work without compensation. These changes DO benefit the company, but not for the right reasons. This is why people are so upset.
A group tried to buy cengage last year and they weren't interested in doing the right thing. Would have saved many jobs, but stupid spending like the millions they spent on SAP and Safeforce nonsense, did them in. They didn't even present the offer to the board... wonder why?
"False paranoia is being created here for no reason whatsoever"
Guess you were super wrong.
The whole thing is sc-mmy as heck.
Though I am shocked by many of the cuts and hate to see anyone lose their jobs, the QA duties had once belonged to the leads/supervisors before the QA team was created. Returning QA duties back to the supervisors makes sense. Still wrapping my head around the other changes, and do see where some make sense. I'm sure it will make more sense in the days to come.
I remember the Sales layoffs and other reorgs made back in 2019. Those were a shock as well. But we have performed well and had our most profitable sales year in a while this year. Change su-ks, seeing people/friends lose jobs su-ks. But past layoffs and reorgs have proven profitable to the business. In the end, that is what this is about. Cengage is a business and in order to stay relevant and profitable, we must evolve.
No, I am not in management or an executive. Just a peon who tries to step out of my box and look at the bigger picture.
What about Independence? Any layoffs there?
It’s devastating to see Gale and Milady's CS teams dissolved into the SX team. Countless talented individuals are losing their jobs in this reorganization, and it's heartbreaking to witness so many lives impacted by these changes every day.
DS lost all their managers and 9 other people. Can’t wait for fall ds=digital success specialist
CS is customer support. The CS supervisors are taking over QA responsibilities which is why the whole QA team was laid off.
"False paranoia is being created here for no reason whatsoever"
When it comes to Cengage, the notion of "false paranoia" does not exist.
Does DS stand for Digital Service?
DS department has lost at least 6 already
Sales impacts are happening today across all divisions. Latin America sales were let go yesterday.
What’s CS? What did they do before this? Why are they taking over QA?
Hey are they going to compensate CS for taking on QA duties? No!? You don’t say! I am shocked! SHOCKED! Shoooooooocked
Once Fall semesters hit it’s going to be an absolute sh*t show.
Anyone laid off from CA department?
They love doing too much and then mass hire a few months later.
What's shocking to me is that while some departments are getting massacred, other departments are kept in the dark. I don't think any of my colleagues in CA are aware of this (except the higher ups probably). I only know about this layoff because I regularly check this site.
What they are doing is sending jobs offshores and laying off people here to put money in their pockets.
The email they just sent out is such bull. The CS supervisors are going to be overwhelmed by taking over QA. This whole thing is stupid.
It’s true. Profits over people. Short term gains for long term pains.
All of the QA department was let go, 4 technical support agents for customer support were confirmed and one other is MIA.
I know they are doing customer support tomorrow 4/24 and they did a bunch of layoffs today 4/23 for remote workers.
Any of the former SF folks now working from home affected? Thanks for any updates.