Earlier today, CEO Pep Carrera shared the following email with Newsela employees:

Team,

I have difficult news to share. Today, Newsela will part ways with 102 colleagues. 

If you are impacted by this layoff, you will immediately receive a notification and a calendar invite for a meeting later today with your team leader and People Partner. These meetings will be individual conversations to explain exit details, including severance packages, and to answer any questions that might come up. 

If you are not impacted by this layoff, you will receive a notification email confirming your continued employment. 

All Newselites, including those impacted, will receive an invitation for an All-Hands meeting at 12:30pm ET // 9:30am PT today. In this meeting, I will share some additional context on this difficult decision, and the implications for our team and strategy moving forward. 

As most of you know, I stepped in as CEO in late January. During my first several months, I spent time with many of you, with ELT, and with our customers. I learned that in order for us to grow for the future, we must become a more nimble organization that can better respond to fast changes in the market. Unfortunately, that means we must take the difficult action today to re-organize our teams into a flatter structure, which requires less managerial and operational support.

I know this is incredibly upsetting. The ELT and I have committed to support our colleagues through this transition, and we ask you to do the same with as much care and respect as possible: 

• We are providing up to 16 weeks of salary, based on tenure and level of the departing employees. 

• We are covering the costs of COBRA throughout the duration of the applicable severance period. 

• All departing Newselites will be allowed to keep their laptop and other tech devices. 

• We have partnered with an outplacement agency to provide resume writing, interview preparation, and other job search support.

• We will be offering all impacted individuals the opportunity to be included in a public-facing list that folks can share with their networks to help everyone find their next landing place. 

To those who have been affected, please know how deeply your colleagues appreciate the passion, care, and commitment you have brought to work each day. I am sincerely grateful for the impact you’ve helped us have, and am very sorry to have to make this decision. 

Pep