Pearson trims Upper Saddle River employees
* Publisher leaving Upper Saddle River.
Publisher Pearson Education, which is vacating its 47-acre headquarters in Upper Saddle River, has done some staff trimming this week. Pearson is laying off nearly 20 employees, most of them in Bergen County at the publisher's site at 1 Lake St.
"Pearson's businesses continue to shift from traditional print models to digital products and services," company spokesperson Susan Aspey said in an email Thursday.
"As our business needs have shifted, we've had to make difficult but necessary decisions about staffing," she said. "This week, we notified 19 employees that their positions will be ending with Pearson in the next month. Thirteen of these employees are based in Upper Saddle River. We know that this is a challenging situation and we'll be doing all that we can to support them through this transition."
The employees who were laid off included administrative personnel and art directors, said one of the group, who didn't want to be identified. That laid-off employee also anticipated that more Pearson workers will be cut, as the company transitions to digital.
Pearson, which employs more than 1,400 workers in Upper Saddle River, will be exiting the borough when its lease expires at the end of 2014. In order to consolidate its employees in the New York metropolitan area, Pearson will relocate those workers in Upper Saddle River to a new waterfront building that broke ground earlier this year in Hoboken and also in a renovated office building on Hudson Street in New York City.
Pearson's landlord, Mack-Cali Realty Corp., is looking to transform the headquarters site into a mixed-use development with upscale apartments.
Pearson's British parent, Pearson PLC, said in February that it was cutting jobs as part of a new restructuring plan, sharpening its focus on digital education and high-growth markets in an attempt to restore growth. Pearson is concerned about its prospects in North America, its biggest business region, because schools and universities are grappling with budget cuts.
