Online tutor service Paper Education cuts 20% of corporate staff

Paper Education (Paper) has reportedly scaled back its staffing levels for the second time this year.

According to The Globe and Mail, the Montreal-based online tutor service recently laid off 20 per cent of its corporate workforce. Approximately 105 employees are affected by the reduction.

CEO Philip Cutler told The Globe in an interview that buying patterns “are different than they were a year or two ago.”

Cutler added that he expects sales to pick up — believing that the cost-cutting will get the company to profitability without needing to raise more capital.

The layoff comes just months after the Canadian tech startup eliminated 81 corporate positions in April.

Paper’s LinkedIn page claims that it employs a total workforce of more than 1,800 people. At least 780 workers are located in Canada.

Major tech layoffs continue

The latest reduction at Paper comes amid a flurry of tech sector layoffs in 2023.

Big names, including Dell, Discord, Telus, Amazon, Microsoft, Rogers, Ritual, and Meta, have announced deep job cuts as they continue to navigate challenging economic conditions.

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Termination agreements for Paper Education staff

In Canada, non-unionized employees at Paper are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing, corporate restructuring, or the closure of the business.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

People working “on contract” or as a contractor may also be owed severance pay — given that many employees in Canada are often misclassified as independent contractors.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance pay technology industry employees
• Rights to severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance entitlements during mass layoffs

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains why you are still owed severance if you have been downsized on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.

In some cases, employers pressure staff into accepting poor severance packages, such as imposing a deadline for accepting the offer.

Non-unionized employees in Canada have up to two years from the date of their dismissal to pursue a claim for full severance pay.