Pluralsight, a big tech company in Utah, laid off more workers in July 2023, but it was not as clear as when they laid off 400 in December 2022.
CEO Aaron Skonnard told The Salt Lake Tribune that they reduced staff to focus better and make more money. The company, based in Draper, didn’t say how many jobs were lost at that time. Some workers were also let go in April. Skonnard, who is now part of the Utah Board of Higher Education, said they value their employees, and it was a tough choice.
In July, some people who had recently been laid off from their jobs at Pluralsight shared their experiences on Linkedin. They described the event as a “restructuring.” Among those affected were developers, video creators, and sales specialists. One engineer mentioned that their whole team got laid off but didn’t specify its size.
This was the third round of layoff in seven months that Pluralsight has reduced its staff. In December 2022, when 400 employees were laid off, the company mentioned shifting some jobs to India. Not only this, but they also cut pay for course creators. At that time, it was among four local companies worth over $1 billion to lay off workers.
Pluralsight offers online learning software. It also provides subscriptions for video courses, skills tests, and certifications in various fields like software development and Business. It became a public company in 2018. But it was bought by Vista Equity Partners in 2021 for $3.8 billion.
Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Pluralsight lost $163.5 million in 2019 and $164 million in 2020. Currently, the company has 48 job listings on its website, with 32 of them in India. Now, let’s get to know what type of company Pluralsight is! Let’s get started!
Pluralsight Overview
Pluralsight, LLC is a private American online education company. It was founded in 2004 by Aaron Skonnard, Keith Brown, Fritz Onion, and Bill Williams. It’s based in Farmington, Utah.
The company provides various video training courses for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals through its website. In July 2018, it had over 1,400 subject-matter experts as authors and offered more than 7,000 courses in its catalog. Since 2007, when it first moved its classes online, Pluralsight has expanded. It has created a complete enterprise platform and introduced skills assessment modules.
Pluralsight’s History
As we all know, Pluralsight started as a classroom training company, sending instructors to businesses or events. However, by 2007, the focus shifted to online video training.
Since 2011, Pluralsight has experienced significant growth, earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list as the 9th Top Education company and the 19th Top Utah company.
In October 2017, it ranked 29th on MountainWest Capital Network’s Utah 100 list. It has secured the 20th position on the Forbes Cloud 100 list. Pluralsight also received recognition as one of the Best Workplaces in the small and medium-sized company category by Great Place To Work in 2017 and 2018.
In April 2018, Pluralsight filed for an initial public offering. It also debuted on the NASDAQ exchange on May 17, 2018, opening at $15 per share and closing at $20 on its first trading day.
By 2020, Pluralsight had 18,000 corporate clients, including 70% of Fortune 500 companies.
In December 2020, the company announced its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners for $3.5 billion.
The acquisition, completed in April 2021, resulted in Pluralsight no longer being publicly traded, with Vista Equity Partners purchasing it for $22.50 per share after receiving regulatory approval.
Pluralsight’s Acquisition
Throughout most of its history, Pluralsight expanded its author base and course catalog internally. However, starting in 2013, it opted to acquire various e-learning and education companies. This way, it has strengthened its technology, course offerings, and leadership.
On July 24, 2013, Pluralsight acquired PeepCod. PeepCod is a provider of open-source training for developers. This move added around 100 new courses in the Open Source category to Pluralsight’s course catalog. It has also broadened its focus beyond developers working on Microsoft technologies.
On August 5, 2013, it acquired TrainSignal. TrainSignal is a Chicago-based company providing training for Information Technology personnel for $23.6 million. This acquisition brought 35 TrainSignal employees into Pluralsight while maintaining an office in Chicago as a satellite.
Later, on October 31, Pluralsight acquired Tekpub. Tekpub is known for its screencasts on new development technologies.
Moving to 2014, on April 9, Pluralsight announced the acquisition of Digital Tutors. Digital Tutors is a company offering training for creative professionals for $45 million. This expanded Pluralsight’s training catalog to over 3000 titles. It covers a wider range of topics, including media and design. Then, on November 19, Pluralsight acquired Smarterer, an online skills assessment platform, for $75 million. This marked Pluralsight’s sixth deal in two years.
In 2015, Pluralsight acquired Code School. Code School is an online training site for coding and programming that costs $36 million. The company retained Code School’s office and its team in Orlando. On July 9, Pluralsight acquired HackHands, a San Francisco-based company providing on-demand live assistance for technology learners.
The acquisitions continued in 2016, with Pluralsight acquiring Train Simple, a video training company with a focus on Adobe software.
In 2019, Pluralsight acquired GitPrime. GitPrime is a developer team productivity tool for $170 million in cash.
In 2021, Pluralsight acquired Next Tech. Next Tech is a San Diego-based provider of cloud-based computing environments.
In the same year, it also acquired A Cloud Guru. It is an Austin-based provider of an interactive online learning platform for IT professionals to reskill in cloud technology. The A Cloud Guru transaction was closed on July 8, 2021.
How Does Pluralsight Support Tech Training and Nonprofits?
Pluralsight offers tech training online through subscriptions. They pay authors based on video views, with Scott Allen being the first to earn over $1 million from his courses by 2013.
For businesses, Pluralsight provides a SaaS platform. By 2019, they were working with 70% of Fortune 500 companies, and 86% of their sales were business-to-business.
In 2017, Pluralsight joined the Pledge 1% movement, aiming to give back 1% to nonprofits. They started Pluralsight One in September 2017 to boost tech education for nonprofits.
How Did Pluralsight Secure Funding and Grow Over the Years?
Pluralsight started with each of its four founders putting in $5,000. They didn’t get outside money for nine years.
In 2012, the company got $27.5 million from Insight Venture Partners.
Later, in 2014, they got another $2.5 million. Then, they got $135 million, which was a big deal for a Utah company. The CEO, Aaron Skonnard, said the company was now worth almost $1 billion.
By 2016, Pluralsight had another $30 million, making it worth over $1 billion. The same investors gave this money.
Tech Giants Launch 2024 with Fresh Wave of Layoffs
Amazon, Google, and X are making job cuts in 2024 as part of their efforts to streamline operations and focus on important areas. The layoffs will impact employees globally. It is reflecting a trend among these tech giants to control costs and invest more selectively in specific products and services.
Amazon has cut hundreds of jobs in its film and television studios division. Not only this but also in its streaming platform, Twitch.
Google is also laying off hundreds of people, particularly in its voice-activated Google Assistant project and other select product teams.
X has reduced staff in its global trust and safety team, dealing a significant blow to its safety engineers.
This wave of layoffs follows the previous mass job cuts in 2022 and 2023. It is affecting several major tech companies like Apple and Microsoft. Amazon, in particular, has seen multiple rounds of layoffs, totaling 27,000 job cuts across various operational areas, including its MGM Studio and Prime Video divisions.
Twitch, Amazon’s live streaming unit, has also announced 500 job cuts.
Google, under the leadership of Sundar Pichai, has been focusing on AI projects. Also, made significant cuts, eliminating around 12,000 jobs in 2023, with a strong emphasis on cost reduction.
X Corp., formerly Twitter, has reduced its global trust and safety staff by 30%, with 80% of the cuts affecting safety engineers, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. These actions align with the ongoing efforts of these tech giants to manage costs and prioritize strategic projects.
Who Are The Competitors Of Pluralsight?
iSpring Suite:
Rated 9.3 out of 10, iSpring Suite assists in creating mobile-ready and adaptive courses. Integrated with PowerPoint, it allows content creation in a familiar interface. The toolkit supports professional classes, video lectures, role-play simulations, and assessments for any device. The iSpring Suite Max package provides additional capabilities for eLearning content creation.
Articulate 360:
Scoring 9.1 out of 10, Articulate 360 is an e-learning course development. It includes all Articulate authoring tools, featuring the latest versions of Storyline and Rise for creating responsive courses.
HubSpot Academy:
Achieving a score of 8.8 out of 10, HubSpot Academy offers free online training for marketing, sales, and customer service professionals. Available in four languages, it specializes in certifications, singular-topic courses, and bite-sized lessons for career and business growth.
Coursera:
Scoring 8.5 out of 10, Coursera is a learning management platform based in Mountain View, California.
PiiQ by Cornerstone:
With a score of 8.7 out of 10, PiiQ by Cornerstone is aimed at small-to-medium-sized businesses, offering core learning management and performance management systems, including content creation, mobile accessibility, and in-product reporting.
Udemy for Business:
Rated 8.4 out of 10, Udemy for Business is a cloud-deployed eLearning course collection by Udemy.com.
LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com):
Lynda.com (now part of LinkedIn Learning) is an eLearning course library supported by LinkedIn, Scoring 8.1 out of 10.
Renaissance myON:
Scoring 9.7 out of 10, myON is a digital reading platform providing students 24/7 access to fiction and nonfiction books and news articles in multiple languages.
A Cloud Guru (Linux Academy):
Rated 9.0 out of 10, A Cloud Guru (ACG) is a cloud learning provider helping individuals and organizations level up their cloud skills.
Nearpod:
Achieving a score of 7.9 out of 10, Nearpod is an education-focused learning management software solution offered by Nearpod.
edX for Business:
Scoring 8.7 out of 10, edX provides eLearning content covering a wide range of courses, including edX for Business, an on-demand eLearning platform for upskilling, reskilling, and general workforce training.
TalentLMS:
Achieving a score of 6.2 out of 10, TalentLMS is an LMS supporting training success, designed for easy customization and management to ensure teams embrace training comfortably.
Infosec Skills:
Rated 9.7 out of 10, Infosec Skills aims to upskill and certify users with a hands-on cybersecurity training platform. It offers access to hands-on cybersecurity courses and cyber ranges, with an option to upgrade to a boot camp for live, instructor-led training.
Final Thoughts On Pluralsight Layoffs
In the end, the layoffs at Pluralsight, a prominent Utah tech company, have raised concerns and stirred conversations. The company’s CEO, Aaron Skonnard, emphasized that these layoffs are part of a strategic effort so that they can reallocate resources and enhance the company’s profitability amidst evolving customer needs.
The lack of transparency in disclosing the exact number of employees affected has left many in the dark. This marks the third round of layoffs, impacting various roles, including developers, video creators, and sales specialists.
Pluralsight, known for its cloud-based learning software, has faced challenges despite being acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2021. As the company navigates these changes, the future direction and impact on its workforce remain uncertain, prompting industry watchers to monitor developments in the tech industry closely.
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