Pluralsight is reinventing itself — again.
The digital training platform for tech skills laid off roughly 17% of its global staff Tuesday, a spokesperson confirmed. The “resizing,” as many impacted employees on LinkedIn called it, is part of a broader structural change happening at one of Silicon Slopes’ most high-profile tech companies.
Another part of its transformation? Leaving its home state.
Pluralsight, which had been based in Draper, is “establishing a new headquarters” in Westlake, Texas, according to a statement from CEO Erin Gajaldo. Its Utah workers — the ones that survived Tuesday’s layoffs — will keep their jobs and work remotely, according to the statement.
“Utah is where Pluralsight was founded more than twenty years ago and we are grateful to the state for the important role it has played in Pluralsight’s history,” Gajaldo said. “As we focus on the growth and sustainability of our business, we determined that a new and rightsized headquarters is in the best interest of Pluralsight.”
Employees were offered severance, Gajaldo said. She did not say how much.
Dozens of impacted employees shared the news on LinkedIn. One said she had worked for Pluralsight for more than 11 years and survived “every previous round” of layoffs — including one in 2022 that eliminated 20% of the workforce.
Gajaldo took the helm in November 2024 after several turbulent months at Pluralsight. Founder Aaron Skonnard stepped down as CEO in April 2024 and left the company. Chris Walters, Skonnard’s replacement, lasted less than six months before the company announced new owners and a new business structure, neither of which included Walters as the company leader.
The company’s new owners — a conglomerate of lenders led by Blue Owl Capital and referred to online as the “Investor Group” — agreed to buy out some of the company’s debts in exchange for control of its operations.
“Over the past year we have been transforming our business to position the company for sustained growth and to enhance the value we provide to our customers,” Gajaldo’s statement said.
“To our team members, partners, and customers in the Salt Lake area and Utah more broadly,” Gajaldo added, “we remain fully committed to serving you with excellence, and we expect our total employee population in the state to remain consistent.”
After becoming a “unicorn” (a private startup that surpassed $1 billion in value), the company briefly went public in 2018. Its two years on the stock exchange were defined by loss — roughly $164 million per year, according to public filings — and Vista Equity Partners bought it for $3.5 billion in 2021.
Under Vista Equity, the company implemented several rounds of heavy layoffs. In May 2024, Vista Equity wrote off Pluralsight’s entire equity value, according to reporting from Axios, as Blue Owl took over operations.
Shannon Sollitt is a Report for America corps member covering business accountability and sustainability for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.
