Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to Cut 10% of Staff as Part of Restructuring

Posted on November 13, 2011

The Financial Times reports that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will cut 10% of its staff as part of a restructuring. That means approximate 220 people will be laid off. The restructuring will merge the education group into the existing organization: it will no longer be separate.

Former Microsoft executive Linda Zecher became CEO in September and the restructuring is her idea. Zecher explained the changes: "The purpose of the restructuring effort is to make our company more competitive and refocus our core business on trade, K-12, consumer education and international markets. As part of this effort, there will be a subsequent reduction in our workforce, some of which has already taken place. This will make us more nimble and focused on a vision and strategy that will grow our company."

Harcourt will also close its Washington office and the emerging markets division. So far, the trade publishing group that publishes the Curious George books, will be unaffected by the changes.