Guild’s headquarters are in Republic Plaza in downtown Denver. (Courtesy Guild)
Guild, a Denver-based education startup cutting staff.
Co-founder and CEO Rachel Romer said in a Wednesday email, which the company also posted on its website, that Guild is cutting 172 of its 1,400 employees, or about 12 percent.
The decision is part of a broader Guild reorganization around its long-term goals, Romer said. She cited a need for a “more focused, seamless way of doing work” and said certain roles “served us in our start-up days, but weren’t suited as we transition to a scale-up stage.”
“While this process and the hard decisions we had to make are incredibly painful, I believe they are the necessary and responsible thing to do to ensure that Guild’s mission and model endures in a sustainable and scalable way,” Romer wrote.
The 8-year-old company, formerly known as Guild Education, offers an online marketplace of education programs for working adults. Employers can sign up and pay for their employees to get degrees, specific training and coaching. Notable customers include The Walt Disney Co., Target and Walmart, according to Guild’s website.
Guild has raised roughly $780 million over the past five years, according to company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it hit a valuation of $1 billion in 2019 and that a $175 million round raised in June 2022 valued it at $4.4 billion.
Guild leases four floors of office space at Republic Plaza, but has been seeking to sublet two of them.
In the email, Romer said laid-off employees will receive 12 weeks’ severance pay, with an additional week for every year at the company. Insurance benefits will continue for up to 18 months, with Guild covering premiums for six months.
A Guild spokeswoman declined to answer further questions.
Guild’s headquarters are in Republic Plaza in downtown Denver. (Courtesy Guild)
Guild, a Denver-based education startup cutting staff.
Co-founder and CEO Rachel Romer said in a Wednesday email, which the company also posted on its website, that Guild is cutting 172 of its 1,400 employees, or about 12 percent.
The decision is part of a broader Guild reorganization around its long-term goals, Romer said. She cited a need for a “more focused, seamless way of doing work” and said certain roles “served us in our start-up days, but weren’t suited as we transition to a scale-up stage.”
“While this process and the hard decisions we had to make are incredibly painful, I believe they are the necessary and responsible thing to do to ensure that Guild’s mission and model endures in a sustainable and scalable way,” Romer wrote.
The 8-year-old company, formerly known as Guild Education, offers an online marketplace of education programs for working adults. Employers can sign up and pay for their employees to get degrees, specific training and coaching. Notable customers include The Walt Disney Co., Target and Walmart, according to Guild’s website.
Guild has raised roughly $780 million over the past five years, according to company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it hit a valuation of $1 billion in 2019 and that a $175 million round raised in June 2022 valued it at $4.4 billion.
Guild leases four floors of office space at Republic Plaza, but has been seeking to sublet two of them.
In the email, Romer said laid-off employees will receive 12 weeks’ severance pay, with an additional week for every year at the company. Insurance benefits will continue for up to 18 months, with Guild covering premiums for six months.
A Guild spokeswoman declined to answer further questions.
