Jul 17, 2015
Testing service provider Pearson will lay off hundreds of employees, the majority of them based in the Austin area, according to the Austin-American Statesman.
According to the report, company officials confirmed with the newspaper that it would be laying off a total of 270 employees in its North American operations, with 208 of the layoffs coming in the Austin area as the company combines its four regional locations.
The layoff was preceded by news in May that the company would no longer be the sole vendor of standardized testing materials for the Texas Education Agency. Pearson had held the contract since 1980, but lost out on a four-year, $280 million contract in May to New Jersey-based Educational Testing Services, reports the Statesman. Pearson did get a $60 million contract to provide test materials and services for students with learning disabilities or for whom english is a second language.
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2015/07/17/pearson-to-lay-off-hundreds-in-austin.html