They laid off half the staff today with no severance. Notification was a joke! Some got a meeting invite while others got an email AFTER the meeting. Those let go are being paid for the rest of the week, but damn. They let go of some good people but retained some questionable ones.
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Thank you to the person who clued me into the WARN ACT which it appears POLS/Regent violated in regard to the requirement to give notice about mass layoffs. POLS leadership also blatantly lied to part-time employees when grooming them to sign Regent offer letters that they would receive the same benefits package from Regent save for a 401K contribution match and that they would perhaps lose one day of PTO. Once Regent took over, the part-time employees discovered they lost all of their PTO, dental and life insurance and were directed by the HR transition team to take unpaid leave instead. How can we start a class action lawsuit?
You are not alone! There are so many of is in similar spots and leaning on each other. Please know people are still right there with you and have not just moved on. This was not okay and should not be the new normal. People were left on difficult situations because they trusted the company and their managers. Maybe we were naive.
Hold tight and stay strong. September will hopefully bring new opportunities.
They can't get away with this...
Everyone must have found work as this layoff platform fizzled out. I am suffering every day with this still and I was positive a couple of weeks after the Pearson/Boundless Destruction changes but I am getting a little nervous and concerned now. I have been pleading through their HR to find out about ending benefits so that I can make sure my family and I have COBRA coverage and how much that costs. That process was dragged out with no answers for so long just as we were left in those Town Hall meetings do you remember those former Boundless No Answers Learning questions from us? "Good Question, let me find out." the communication was dismal. I understand business, believe me, I am the son of a small business owner who would never ever hurt people by letting them go in this fashion. I call it for what it is and it is not ethical not to give us our severance. Yes, someone mentioned that they can legally do this but is it ethical? I heard this is the new norm as well! Boy, I was trusting the process like a fool like I was extremely young and naïve! I should have listened to the smart people that got out! I played my hand and lost!!! And early on those individuals got their severance before we were bought out. I remember someone saying to me I told you so!! My biggest mistake in this process. I have gone through this before but the older I get the more painful it is. I am just providing the s-b story that really no one cares to read about as they might be going through the same emotions and feelings or honestly they are not and may be in control. I think that they call that Emotional Intelligence. Kudos to those who are mentally strong or have lots of resources to assist them. This was my dream job! It paid the bills but obviously will not make you rich but it was stable but what is that anymore? It seems like getting laid off is the new norm and finding something to replace it via income or otherwise is extremely difficult. It is like a death! The statement. "Sorry that this happened to you!" and in their mind they think glad it was not me! Maybe Grub Hub or Uber Eats is my next step to survive. God is in control but it does not make it any easier. I keep on praying but I needed a platform to vent my frustrations. Congratulations to the ones who got work already and are happy again that is the goal of the rest of us who are left that do not have that outcome quite yet. It is God's timing! Be positive! as everyone reinforces to me on a daily basis! On a side note does anyone know of any positions available to apply to?? LOL
Sounds like things have gone from bad to worse! The 2021 layoffs felt like it was managed by id--ts, now this?
FYI I have two posts on the topic (and ones that reference these threads):
https://philhillaa.com/onedtech/layoffs-without-severance/
https://philhillaa.com/onedtech/why-pearson-is-complicit/
Being in education, there are (too) many commenters saying or implying that this is what you get with for-profit companies, but I do not believe that. This Pearson / Regent / Boundless layoff is unique in its approach, certainly for the education space. I'm sorry for the people having to go through this.
If anyone has more information worth sharing for coverage (even off-the-record or anonymous), please feel free to contact me: https://philhillaa.com/contact/
Such a lack of class. Those working for POLS were fed lies until they were fired. Shameful to position the removal of severance & paid out PTO to long time employees in this manner. I would argue that you operated on the good faith of what you'd been told & what had been long custom of the company. It's a sham sale if the same leaders are in place & adhesion if you really had no choice but to move to the new company to maintain your jobs.
Was all this taking place while the earnings update was being broadcast as the greatest since sliced bread? The timeframe is roughly the same.
Pursue your states remedies to the fullest.
The treatment you received was dreadful.
Has any one heard yet if there will be class action lawsuit for the US employees?
- Not paying employees the corrected salary that was promised
- Seeming to target layoffs among older employees, POC's, women, and more
- No WARN act advance notice
- Using the "like to like" job title/salary as part of the sale to evade laws designed to protect employees
- Laying off employees while they were still out on parental leave
- For those who were in states eligible for PTO pay outs, paying out based on incorrect salary calculations
- Using "case by case" basis regarding severance to entrap employees through the transition, then not giving ANY severance to ANYONE unless required by law.
They are maximizing every loop hole available to them to save pennies: Not paying out PTO in states that say it's not an absolute requirement, extreme differences between US employees vs Canadian employees because Canada has far better employee protections, and more.
The greatest injury here is the massive erosion in trust that took years to build with our university partners. We gave of ourselves, ethically, with the student in mind because we all believed we were having a positive impact in their lives. We advocated to do the 'right thing' on behalf of our partners, even when some leaders were pushing for things that didn't align with the needs of our partners.
Now, it's being eroded to a pure profit driven transaction, with very little comfort for our partners that their brand and voice will be represented with integrity. For our colleagues left behind to navigate the chaos, who are still trying to do right by these institutions and ultimately the students, how can they have any confidence or trust that their voices will be heard by a leadership that disregards diversity, disregards treating their own employees with humanity, disregards the importance of a supported hand off?
If you are trying to "get fit" by the fastest means possible, what good will it due the entire body if you cut off your own arms to do so?
I was another of those cut. For me, the thing that makes me the angriest was they cut us in mass groups, like freaking cattle calls. I was in a teams call with roughly 30 others, mics muted, cameras off, chat disabled. These vampires of a leadership team didn’t even have the decency to look us in the eye while they kicked us to the curb.
For any universities out there that might be considering these clowns: run for the hills. Your programs will languish after launching, as leadership will not pay any attention to your brand if it’s not a top earner, and the teams in the trenches actually doing the work are so overwhelmed by sheer volume, they’re likely to push you to the bottom of their pile until you’re screaming at them. Maybe they’ll improve, but the track record isn’t there. And you can be assured, leadership does not care about the people who will be the ones working with you and your students.
It’s a shame, as there are people in the company doing their best, that actually care about education and the students enrolled at these schools. But leadership doesn’t see students, they just see walking percentages.
Wonder if anyone has heard if more layoffs will be coming thru the 15th?
If Regent really cared about turning Boundless profitable, why would they keep on the leadership who allowed it to slip so far down into failure? <----The MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION
I was one of those cut this week. My own director spent the entire transition, from strategic review to the divesture itself, being a cheerleader for Boundless. She swore up and down that our team was secure, we were very much needed in the new organization and focused on how many of the cuts would come from partnerships that were being spun down and not teams like ours. She equated this to a new exciting start up environment. And in the end she was the one to fire me with a script and a Teams call. On exiting the company I managed to have one last discussion with my manager who noted it was likely I was cut because I was a top earner who was costing them too much. My performance reviews were always positive, I had established a reputation for being a strong asset, I just made the mistake of staying too long. They kept the junior analysts (both amazing employees I should add - I’m glad they were spared) because they thought they could short them. Easier to shrink my department to one person and hope for the best. KB has always rubbed me the wrong way, but it appears he and the rest of ELT really used this divesture as a way of avoiding having to pay us out for their failures. If Regent really cared about turning Boundless profitable, why would they keep on the leadership who allowed it to slip so far down into failure?
For any of the Academic Partners reading this information: run. There is no reason you cannot run these services in house. They are simple to setup, and the cost to you would be so much lower owning your own recruitment efforts, than letting Boundless Learning bleed you dry. OPM is a dying business model, and this should be all the proof you need.
The comments of people not impacted on other sites are tone deaf. If you really feel the way you do and are not trying to have your empathy make your LinkedIn post go viral then give your notice.
Don't worry, Uber Man has all the answers. For a company that is sooooo desperate to save money, why does it approve the expenses of SVPs who only take Uber Black rides? The same SVP that was responsible for the new real estate locations....
As someone that was closely connected to this leadership team I can confidently tell everyone impacted that this leadership team is a group of snakes. They don’t care about a single employee. In fact, an SVP was making jokes about the pending layoffs to other members of leadership. There are several APs that were on the fence before this and I am sure this will push them over the edge. This won’t be the last round of layoffs this year. If you are still there try to negotiate a severance package now. If you are still there your executive leadership team is full of incompetent and heartless people. They are all too focused on having the loudest voice in the room instead of working together to drive the business forward. They have their own agenda and the people are NOT a part of it.
It's sad that so many good people have already gone. I wasn't cut (yet), and now I wonder what the next selection criteria will be (or lack thereof). I can't stand the fake leaders trying to spin and fluff up how great "our" future will be. If you're an academic partner that currently works with us, then ask yourself what your OPM is truly doing for you?Behind the scenes, they make a sweatshop call center in a pokey 3rd world country look good. #boundtofail
Was with the company for 5 years and got laid off via email because i had already started to have my access restricted. I couldn’t even send a goodbye message in teams because it was already locked. What a joke.
Absolute joke of a company. Management are liars and yes people. Good quality employees were terminated while the bottom of the barrel, immoral employees were kept on. If you questioned anything you got fired. After months and months of micromanagement, unrealistic metrics, and a complete disregard for human decency. Half of the company was thrown to the side.
For all those currently still employed at this may the odds be ever in your favor.
The anxiety that most people working here have endured for months has been off the scale. The only good thing about today for many is that the anxiety will go away. Without severance (how many more times could they repeat it & remind you that they've told you multiple times), PTO payout that you've lost (unless your state requires it) and despite you working your bu** off for a long time to try to help the company succeed, this is the thanks you get. The anxiety you had has now been replaced by uncertainty, anger, and possibly grief. The fact that your pay hasn't been right for 2 paychecks already (but they promised it would be), they constantly say "we're fixing it" is beyond embarrassing. Even start-ups are run better then this. The execs (those non diverse white males who will look forward to their new portrait pictures on the new website soon) couldn't organize a two car funeral.
I'm sorry for all those let go. Please know this company is not worth your time and effort. You will find a better job and be happier. The management team has run the company into the ground and stepped on the hardworking employees in the process. You deserve the recognition and respect that you have been denied for so long. Go LinkedIn and reach out to your colleagues or former colleagues. I will gladly give you references or endorse your skills and if we all do that, we will find we are better off and happier.
Those remaining would be foolish to have an ounce of trust for any of the leaders. One of my co-workers was told point blank that their position would be ok. They were laid off today. Barefaced liars who only can only cut high performers because they don't live near any of the mystery locations that they will force everyone back into the office at.
The leadership remaining are yes people, great at st-----g each other's egos. Most worked together in a previous company. So much for diversity and equal opportunity. That is long gone at this Laurel & Hardy show.
Sure the layoffs are questionable. Mgmt selects those who dont question their incompetence and lies. Many from cruddy profit schools like AIU-CH, JM and others. KB and HR Reps are also from nonsense profit schools. The managers are the one who are responsible for the demise of POLS. Yet these individuals decide upon who stays. Those who were let go will be better off. More layoffs will continue and who wants to be working under incompetent, lying fools.