What is the feeling of job security at Western Governors University?

Good mission Flexibility for some staff Middle managers really care about you as an individual

WGU has implemented a poorly planned return-to-office mandate for most staff. Those allowed to remain remote will face limited upward mobility, and if they leave, their positions will be backfilled in Salt Lake. WGU no longer has a VP of DEI, and it's unclear if the DEI team even exists. The decision to centralize the majority of the company in Salt Lake, along with the departure of the DEI leader, suggests that diversity is not a priority at WGU. Culture, once a strong selling point, has been undermined by leadership's lack of transparency, evident in the ongoing layoffs that are happening without any communication to staff. The senior leadership team seems disconnected from both the employees and the market. WGU isn't a top-paying employer, our benefits aren't exceptional, and we no longer offer remote work. So, what motivates people to work here? Leadership might point to "the mission," which we all agree is important, but it's only as strong as the people supporting it. Recent leadership decisions risk replacing our talent with less skilled, more homogenous individuals based in Salt Lake.

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Executive leadership has an insatiable craving for ever-increasing profits, and it has moved us to a diploma mill type model, where metrics on enrollments and graduates are more important than ensuring students are ready for the job market. Our CEO integrated private equity ownership into the institution, and all dips in related revenue get transferred directly to WGU employees, in the form of punishment (layoffs and lack of promotion) or erratic decision-making (RTO for an online-centric company). RTO has made it impossible to perform many company operations, as individual teams will look completely different month-to-month. We have needlessly lost multiple folks with disabilities because the company will not be flexible when it comes to accommodating those parties. Corporate vibes are very prevalent. AI-written leadership principles (they literally fail multiple screening tests) are made by leaders who exhibit behavior entirely contradictory to those principles. They even go through the trouble of mailing a physical copy of these corporate terms to our personal households so we can share them with our families.

The pay and benefits are competitive.

The most disorganized and chaotic place I’ve ever worked. They think a continuous cycle of layoffs and hiring will make up the difference for their inept leadership. It doesn’t. I cannot recommend this place to my worst enemy.

My salary is good, work-life balance is good, and the people I work with are very nice. I liked the boss who hired me very much.

I was hired to work remotely from a non-Utah state. Then one day, when my retirement vesting was not yet even 25%, they told me I had to move to Salt Lake and work in a cubicle or lose my job. The only explanation was about 'innovating better together'. And the relocation requirement applied to 100s of people working remotely around the US, including directors and VPs, some of whom had served WGU for 10 years. I understand that layoffs are part of business, but WGU did not even have the decency to tell the truth and offer good severance. They do -not- value their professional staff.

A lot of great people work here, for now, as they search for other jobs.

There are frequent layoffs and I have felt job insecurity since I’ve been here. Top “academic” leaders are mostly white men with only a Bachelor’s degree and no Higher Ed background. The leadership is forcing many employees to move to SLC or lose their jobs.

The people doing the real work day in and day out who still believe strongly in our mission and values even though senior leadership has made it clear they only care about profit at this point.

When I first started working here about two years ago, I thought I would spend the rest of my career here. I loved the mission, the remote work, and the people. Now President Scott Pulsipher has tanked the mission and is forcing thousands of employees to uproot their lives and move to Salt Lake City to work in person — a move that can only be seen as a poorly veiled attempt at a mass layoff where they don't need to pay severance. There is clear data that shows that layoffs and forced returns to office have significant negative consequences on employee happiness, turnover, and productivity, as well as the business's bottom line. Most companies that do mass layoffs are no better off financially. But Scotty P doesn't care about the thousands of families he's destroying if it means he can be a wannabe Jeff Bezos. And don't even get me started on AI. They are actively working to automate entire roles and teams with the goal of ultimately having students taught, coached, and assessed by AI.

The job security is decent

Leadership has a lot of downs and cross collaboration is more of a hostage negotiation than anything.

I honestly can’t think of any

I started at WGU because I loved their flexible work style and core values. Recently the director of EdTech has decided to reassign Engineers to products we don’t technologically have the skills to support and has told us to basically just do it. He doesn’t understand that this is how mistakes are often made, many programming languages are similar but different enough that you need to re-skill to be proficient and accurate. Last week was a really difficult week, they announced everyone must move to Salt Lake (or another undisclosed location) or will be terminated. They will not compensate for the increase in cost of living and will also not guarantee job security if you uproot your family. It’s really sad and I’m seriously concerned about the impact this will have on our students.

Helping to bring Higher Education to underserved communities is great and a worthwhile effort.

Don't expect anything from WGU. If you were hired remotely before the offices closed you are expected to move to Utah by 2026. There have been layoffs every 2 years like clockwork while the compensation of the executives have increased dramatically. They have recently announced a return to office that will likely result in layoffs of over 700 employees. As part of this return to office mandate there isn't enough physical desk space or parking at the main office to accommodate all that have been asked to return. Employees that never worked in an office or in Utah are being told to move of face termination. If you are above a high enough level they are offering severance and relocation assistance. Anyone below leadership levels are being told to relocate at their own expense. Wages at the university are lower than industry average. Career growth and advancement is heavily restricted. They recently have quietly dismantled everything that would help promote a diverse workforce, and with the ending of remote employment will further shift their workforce to a single demographic pool.

Few and far between now. The tuition discount, the mission statement, the employees.

In one fell swoop, trust has been obliterated at WGU. Once a ground breaking University, priding itself on creating a diverse workforce, breaking tradition and forging a pathway of change, WGU has fallen victim to multiple blows to our core structure. 1. The return to work policy has impacted more than 1000 employees. Many of who were completely blindsided. Forcibly requested to relocate to SLC where the housing market is similar to California and the cost of living, as well as the air quality is abysmal, employees are forlorn and job security is shakey at best. 2. Taking into the political concerns or religious views that many fear are at odds with their personal values, the loss of diverse talent comes on the heels of the devastating loss of our beloved Jason Thompson, the Vice President of Diversity Equity and Inclusion. Jason was an incredible mentor and leader to many individual and groups with WGU and an innovative thinker when it comes to RTO. There was no announcement of his departure and has been no updates for our DEI programs. Devastating is exactly the correct word. 3. Loss of trust in the executive leadership team is RAMPANT. In my many years at WGU and at other organizations, I have never seen this level of mass outrage from employees speak out, followed by the loudest echo of silence from the executive leadership team. The roll out of the message, the lack of ownership and messaging in town halls, the mixed messaging and mass confusion, and the inflexibility has caused the foundation of this organization to start to crumble. 4. There is division at every turn. Division between executive leadership and everyone else. Division between all leadership and none leadership. Division between instate Utah employees and out of state employees. Division between departments as information feels “hush hush.”