NO LOVE AT PEARSON PUBLISHING

Am I Next? 3,000 Jobs in Jeopardy at Pearson Publishing

One of the largest publishers of textbooks and school programs has announced 3,000 job cuts in a cost-savings effort. The cuts will be spread out over the next few years according to company announcements. Pearson has targeted a number of office locations, management positions, and plans further centralization of procurement. After a disappointing financial performance, the company claims that it will become more focused on serving the educational market. 

Given the exponential rise in the cost of mandated educational materials, this may not be as effective as management thinks as students continue to revolt against paying $100 or more for textbooks highlighting principles and teachings that are decades old and well-expressed in other less-costly formats. Paying teachers to author textbooks that are demanded to be used for the school’s courses is an area ripe for investigation by various local, state, and federal authorities. Converting paper-based teaching materials to an electronic format is also becoming problematical given the number of user-created educational materials that are freely available on free-access platforms such as YouTube.

CEO John Fallon is quoted as saying, “Pearson has had a solid first half. We are making good progress on our strategic priorities, and our guidance for 2017 remains unchanged. We are focused on maximizing performance through the critical second half. Strong cash generation, prudent management of our balance sheet and implementation of our transformation plans are positioning us to be the winner in digital education, and create long-term sustainable value for our shareholders.”

The handwriting is on the wall, and the former cozy relationship between publishers of educational materials and the educational infrastructure is likely to be reexamined shortly. One might consider that companies such as Amazon may do to educational publishing what they have done to commercial publishing – reducing the price of paper-based books from $12.95 to $2.99 with electronic delivery. Content creation is ramping up, but rising above the marketplace noise to be discovered and purchased remains problematical. 
 

NO LOVE AT TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS (08/22/22)

Am I Next? 7,000 jobs cut at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

AUGUST 22, 2022 — 305 LAYOFFS IN IRVINE, CALIFORNIA

Teva Parenteral Medicines is laying off 305 employees at its sterile injectables plant in Irvine, California.

The plant’s future appears to be in jeopardy as it faces regulatory issues.

OCTOBER 15, 2019 — TEVA PLANS TO SHUTTER FOREST, VIRGINIA FACILITY

In a notice to the State of Virginia, the company has announced that they are planning to lay off 220 employees commencing November 22, 2019, and be completed by the end of the year. The company restated its plans to eventually sell or close the facility by 2020.

According to the company’s statement, this action is part of the company’s “comprehensive restructuring and consolidation plan that is crucial to restoring Teva’s financial security and stability.”

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The largest generic drug maker in the world, Teva Pharmaceuticals has announced that they will be cutting 7,000 jobs worldwide, shutting 15 plants, and removing operations from 45 countries in 2017-18. Declining prices of generics, increased competition, mounting debt from acquisitions, loss of patent protection on a key drug, and a series of ill-timed events add to Wall Street’s demand to perform or be revalued have led Teva to reevaluate its global operations. Teva is continuing their search for a new CEO after the resignation of former CEO Erez Vigodman in February 2017. 

I cannot help but wonder if this restructuring has been brought on by structural problems or because Wall Street pundits have indicated their lack of confidence in Teva’s future performance. Especially since there are few large acquisition targets that would make a difference in Teva’s bottom line.

Among the many setbacks was the settlement of criminal and civil charges that Teva bribed drug purchasing officials in Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, and elsewhere to promote its drugs. This resulted in substantial legal costs and a $238 million penalty to the United States Department of Justice to settle allegations of violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and another $236 million in profits (plus interests) to end a civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Of course, the company does not actually pay these fines – they are paid by the shareholders, the customers, and the company’s employees. And, it should be noted that bribery in many countries is a regular business practice that is simply another cost of doing business with corrupt politicians and others in positions of authority. 

Again we see good people being laid off through no fault of their own.   

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

WILL YOUR JOB BE LOST IN THE POLITICAL SWAMP?

Am I Next? Job Loss, Politics, Political Swamp

It doesn't matter which political party you belong to or abstain from participating in the political process. The sad truth is that your job relies just as much on federal regulations as it does a vibrant marketplace, healthy economy, healthy industry, and healthy company.

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the burden of 2016 federal regulations on the American public was approximately $1.9 TRILLION or nearly $15,000 per household.
The 2017 edition of "Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State" reveals that in 2016:

  • 214 laws were enacted by Congress during the calendar year, while 3,853 rules were issued by agencies. That means, 18 rules were issued for every law enacted last year.
  • Some 60 federal departments, agencies, and commissions have 3,318 regulations in development at various stages in the pipeline.
  • The five most active rulemaking entities–the Departments of the Treasury, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency–account for 1,428 rules, or 43 percent of all federal regulations being considered.
  • The 2016 Federal Register contains 95,894 pages, the highest level in its history and 19 percent higher than the previous year’s 80,260 pages.
  • Rules appear to be increasing as former President Obama issued 685 major rules during his 8-year term, compared with former President George W. Bush’s 505 major rules during his 8-year term. President Trump has announced he will use executive orders to effect a roll-back in rules and rule-making.

Some of President Trump’s initiatives during his first 100 days include:

  • Presidential Memorandum. Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing, January 24, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13766. Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects, January 24, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13771. Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, January 30, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13772. Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System, February 3, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13777. Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, February 24, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13789. Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory Burdens, April 21, 2017

While we all can’t be tax and legislative analysts, we can scan the trade papers for notices of impending legislation and try to imagine how they might impact your industry, company, and job.