News

Déjà Vu: BloomTech Cuts 50% Staff, Again

Class Central has learned that BloomTech, the coding bootcamp previously named Lambda School, has just laid off 50% of their staff. This is the fourth round of layoffs at BloomTech that we know of. A year earlier to the day, BloomTech had already laid off 50% of their staff. At the time, 88 people were impacted.

We were tipped off to the news by a Reddit post, echoing a number of LinkedIn posts by now-ex BloomTech employees included in the new round of layoffs. The news also found its way to Twitter / X:

Tweet

Industry Challenges

The Reddit and Twitter threads allude to the growing pains of coding bootcamp in a tech market plagued by layoffs and growing competition — especially for entry-level positions, the ones typically sought after by bootcamp graduates.

These headwinds have impacted other companies: a month ago, we wrote about how the popular online bootcamp Hack Reactor suddenly shut down its part-time program, to the dismay of enrolled learners.

Controversial Practices

BloomTech’s loan-backed deferred tuition plan, and its interest rate.

The threads also allude to problems endemic to the bootcamp industry and its practices, most notably regarding how learners fund their studies. Some bootcamps, including BloomTech, rely on controversial Income Share Agreements (ISAs) or deferred payments backed by loans that accrue substantial interests.

Bootcamps that offer these payment options usually extoll them as offering flexibility and peace of mind to learners. In practice, these payment plans often lead to increased cost for learners, as discussed in Class Central’s previous coverage, a problem compounded by dubious claims regarding job placement rates: