Notice one VP was let go, yet he doesn’t need to worry much since his spouse also brings in a Cengage VP stake.
Perhaps all justifications for positions, including executives, should be shared with all, including us ham and eggers who are without a spouse with a VP salary or a VP’s severance.
Hey, have you guys heard about Cengage? They're like the superheroes of the education world! They're not just innovating, they're creating whole new markets! Like, who needs a cape when you can create a whole new way of learning? (chuckles)
And don't even get me started on their employees. Some of them are so inspired, they're becoming their own CEOs! (laughter) I mean, it's like they're saying, 'Thanks, Cengage, for the skills and the confidence... I'm outta here!' (audience laughs)
But seriously, Cengage is like the SunPower of education. They're saving the world, one textbook at a time! (applause) And if a few employees leave to start their own thing, that's just a sign of a job well done, right? (winks)
So, let's give it up for Cengage, folks! They're not just leading the way, they're creating the way! (cheers and applause) And if you're an employee thinking of leaving, just remember: you can't spell 'CEO' without 'Cengage'! (ba-dum-tss)
(Standing applause and the curtain drops)
Greetings,
This announcement was made low-key so as not to distract resources on the affected member's team, which was actively engaged in disrupting the marketplace.
While both Cengage Unlimited and Project Horizon have been unmitigated successes, not every employee has what we look for in a Cengage team member.
Cengage is known for creating markets and change. Some companies, such as Apple, and Google, are respected as innovators within their space. Cengage is more akin to SunPower, in that it dominates a vertical it created by riding on its bleeding edge while disrupting and changing lives.
While SunPower is undoubtedly combating the biggest threat to humanity in seventy years, many believe that Cengage's wins and activation increases are changing the way students learn, while saving millions of dollars and providing careers to our team members in the global economy.
We could quibble about a few employees who have begun the admirable transition to becoming their own CEO, which I might add would not have been possible without the long-term strategic planning put forth by the Leadership Team, but we choose to keep moving forward!
Let me be clear, Cengage will continue to lead as we become a more agile and scalable company.
Full Stop!
Here's a rewritten version with a dash of humor:
Hey Employee XY and Z, thanks for speaking up! We know our communication strategy for Horizon was about as clear as a foggy day in London (basically, non-existent). But fear not, dear employee! We had our reasons for keeping things hush-hush. We wanted to protect the privacy of our impacted employees and avoid a company-wide game of "Guess Who's Leaving?" (not a real game, but you get the idea).
So, we decided to keep the memos hyper-localized - just like a trendy new coffee shop that only the cool kids know about. And honestly, we didn't want to be the office equivalent of a social media oversharer, blasting everyone with TMI (too much information). If you're curious about specific people, just ask your manager - they're like the office gossip, but with actual answers! Just like that guy that used to do Ac_d by the river walk.
What an exciting time to be an “HR Business Parter” at Cengage.
You get to actually feel relevant, empowered and dare I say more important than the proletariat, slaving away.
Unlike normal times, people are so scared they return your calls, emails and at least pretend to listen to your drivel.
What an awful existence.
That's literally what I heard at First Friday slack:
"Hi Employee X - thank you for your feedback. I understand the issue you are raising and the challenges it has caused some employees on adjacent teams and those who share other experiences (ERGs for example). We chose to hyper-localize Horizon related communications for a couple of reasons, one of them being the privacy of the impacted employees. We felt that sharing names of impacted employees with the employees' direct team first makes the most sense -- these are the people that the impacted employee works closest with, and who may need to be made aware of a new process or way of working due to the changes to the team. Beyond this hyper localized distribution, we left the sharing of the memos to team leaders to share at their discretion. We decided to be cautious with this information, and not blast it to all employees, to protect the impacted employees and, ideally, not cause distraction driven by curiosity. There really is not a "best way" to handle communications in these situations. If you have questions about specific people, you can ask your manager who may be able to get you that information.""
Got it. So no transparency.
Greetings,
Cengage is a private company; the only people who should be privy to salaries are managers and the BOD.
Let me be clear: it would not be professional to discuss terminations or employee compensation publicly.