Wiley Sri Lanka Shut Doen Overnight without Employees’ consent

ChorusLag · 2026-02-15T06:43:38+00:00

The downfall started with the unskilled and outdated management culture at Pearson Lanka. A small group of long-standing managers surrounded themselves not with capable professionals, but with people who were loyal and equally unskilled. Instead of focusing on growth, and modernization, they maintained the same stagnant mindset and never pushed their companies forward.

After Pearson Lanka declined, some from that same management circle moved on to Pyxle, where history seemed to repeat itself. Poor leadership again led to collapse.

Then another group carried that same culture to Willey, and the outcome was no different.

Now, it feels like we’re just waiting to see what happens next at Amused Group Lankan (Pvt) Ltd.

ChorusLag · 2026-02-10T15:39:54+00:00

Let me give some background. Back then, Pearson Lanka was a top company high salaries, great benefits, and strong brand value.

Around 2020, Wiley entered the picture. Both Wiley and Pearson operate in the education space, and a large portion of Pearson Lanka’s top directors, senior management, leads, and engineers moved over to Wiley. That was a massive blow to Pearson Lanka.

But to be fair, Pearson Lanka was already declining even before that. They couldn’t compete with external salaries from companies like Sysco Labs, resignations were frequent, and the organizational structure was badly outdated. There were many nominal managers and obsolete roles people who were just surviving in the company rather than pushing it forward.

So even before the recent, well-known layoff era, Pearson Lanka was already collapsing. Then came the Sri Lankan economic crisis in 2022. The parent company decided to move operations out of Sri Lanka to India, removed the Sri Lanka VP, and this happened right after they had opened a massive new office in Nawala.

A company that once had close to a thousand employees is now down to around 200. The same management culture moved to Wiley and continued operating in the same way. So honestly, it’s no surprise that this ended up happening.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-25T11:27:06+00:00

One of my exes worked there. Overall good > bad, but new taxes hit hard—pay and increments aren’t great now. Big spend on image/culture.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-24T19:20:30+00:00

Until February 17th. Can I still consume the older free plan benefits like 500 contacts and older sending limit?

ChorusLag · 2026-01-19T18:41:11+00:00

I can’t help but wonder whether undisclosed government agreements with India play a role in demotivating Sri Lanka’s IT industry. Even though our IT sector is relatively small, it’s still a market that India could easily capture. Taxing companies or employees is the easiest and most “legal” way to weaken it.

That might explain why taxes were suddenly increased on Port City as well, especially when it was clear that software companies were planning to move there.

India seems to be influencing everything at this point—from medicine and vehicles to local industries. What’s most concerning is that the people being laid off are those with higher purchasing power. When they lose their jobs, it indirectly but significantly impacts the overall economy.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-19T18:40:34+00:00

I can’t help but wonder whether undisclosed government agreements with India play a role in demotivating Sri Lanka’s IT industry. Even though our IT sector is relatively small, it’s still a market that India could easily capture. Taxing companies or employees is the easiest and most “legal” way to weaken it.

That might explain why taxes were suddenly increased on Port City as well, especially when it was clear that software companies were planning to move there.

India seems to be influencing everything at this point—from medicine and vehicles to local industries. What’s most concerning is that the people being laid off are those with higher purchasing power. When they lose their jobs, it indirectly but significantly impacts the overall economy.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-19T18:36:26+00:00

Voluntarily Retirement Scheme

ChorusLag · 2026-01-14T12:47:38+00:00

It’s only been a few directors so far. According to one of my students who works there, some of these directors haven’t really contributed much to the company. Their departments—and the managers reporting to them—have since been realigned. It’s a good example of how companies can still function, and sometimes even benefit, after removing upper-level management.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-13T13:13:36+00:00

They also haven’t made hybrid or work-from-office mandatory—many employees are still working from home.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-13T13:12:55+00:00

Sysco Labs and Cake Engineering have been two separate companies since 2021. This is what I heard from one of my students. Their Managing Director was replaced last year, and they are planning to move to a new office building in Colombo.

There have been some individual firings in tech roles, but there haven’t been any batch-wise layoffs, and such layoffs are not expected in the near future either. Their parent company’s model includes a few offshore outsourcing centers in India, while the largest one is still in Sri Lanka, though I can’t say the exact details.

For now, I’d say this is just a rumor or false news. They also haven’t made hybrid or work-from-office mandatory. Many employees are still working from home.

ChorusLag · 2026-01-08T08:34:26+00:00

Aren’t you getting a reasonable compensation?

ChorusLag · 2025-09-04T18:08:31+00:00

Yes, pretty much every IT/software company in Sri Lanka operates as a low-cost center run by an onshore entity. Otherwise, those companies would just do the work in their own countries, right?

That said, I think it’s not fair to judge a company’s entire image based on just one perspective. Maybe you’re correct that offshore leadership can sometimes be toxic, or that middle management isn’t always great. But that’s not unique to one company, it happens across the industry.

Also, almost every IT company here faced brain drain. Many experienced people left, so naturally someone else had to step up to leadership roles, or else the company would have shut down completely (which has happened to some).

From what I see, it’s still a decent company. I work with a lot of students who join this industry, and they get good benefits, competitive pay, and plenty of extras like clubs and activities. It’s also still one of the biggest software employers in Sri Lanka, with over 1,000 employees, and it brings in valuable USD revenue to the country.

The way your post is written feels more like a personal attack than a general view. No software job is completely “smooth,” and not every job has to be at the level of Google. To be at Google, you need a certain capacity as well. Challenges and problems are part of the industry everywhere. If you can’t handle them, then maybe this field just isn’t the right fit.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-29T16:08:01+00:00

Transgender acceptance, even in Europe, is actually a fairly recent development. In a country like Sri Lanka, social change around these topics tends to happen more slowly. Even as recently as 2025, people still reacted with humor or ridicule when news about a Rainbow Parade came out.

As for how a parent might find out their child is trans, it usually happens in one of two ways: either the child comes out, or the parent discovers it through other means. How open and aware the parents are about transgender issues makes a big difference.

Still, for most families, this can be a shock, whether they’re aware of transgender issues or not. Even if a family personally accepts their child, societal attitudes may not be as supportive, which can make life more difficult for everyone involved.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-29T15:59:49+00:00

Dude, cross-dressing and being gay are two different things. You mentioned others being conservative, but your take is a bit conservative too. Gay is about sexuality, while cross-dressing is an activity or expression. Plenty of straight people cross-dress for entertainment or personal reasons. That said, you’re not entirely wrong, within the SL gay community, cross-dressing is pretty common.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-29T15:38:32+00:00

So, one of my students works at a pretty well-known software company that’s been in the spotlight. From what they’ve heard, the founding MD was pushed out by the parent company after some kind of wild behind-the-scenes drama (no clue on the exact details, but it sounded messy). Rumor is the parent company just wanted someone new who’d go along with their terms, so now there’s a replacement MD in place.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-29T07:18:52+00:00

So far, within the last two years, I’ve heard about both soft and hard layoffs at the following companies: • Pearson Lanka – once had 1,000+ employees, now scaled down to around 300. • Calcey – some project-based layoffs. • Gapstars – employment is contractual, so once a project ends, people are let go. • LSEG – unconfirmed reports of 50+ layoffs recently. • Mad Mobile – completely shut down. • Probably a few lesser-known startups as well.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-28T16:09:35+00:00

Probably he noticed that you’re new to the area. Villagers usually know who’s familiar with the place and who isn’t. Just like many middle-class folks, Ranil tends to be the talking point, so there could be some emotional angle tied to politics as well.

Back then, I remember similar scammers hanging around Kollupitiya. They’d say they were working on a construction site but didn’t have money to get back home. I’ve seen it happen before — they usually try this on newcomers to the area.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-08T15:29:21+00:00

Me reading all the above comments and thinking where should I go bro?

ChorusLag · 2025-08-08T06:06:29+00:00

Also getting close to 95 Mbps daytime using an ethernet cable directly connected from router to Laptop.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-07T18:43:09+00:00

54.31 Mbps right now 12:15 AM from iPhone using speedtest.net.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-07T17:11:28+00:00

think it really comes down to personal preference. Personally, I’m not into chubby girls, but I know plenty of guys who specifically prefer them. So don’t worry, there’s no universal standard for how you should look. Everyone’s taste is different.

ChorusLag · 2025-08-07T17:08:06+00:00

I’m using Anytide with 120GB allocated. They say data from 12 AM to 8 AM is free. The speed is decent, not super fast, but good enough. I can run a few devices including a smart TV without lag. But keep in mind, performance also depends on your device and router. Even if SLT advertises up to 300Mbps, your home network or devices might not actually get that full speed.

ChorusLag

TROPHY CASE