When he joined a major local workforce development company nearly two years ago, Matt Derella was adamant that the company wasn’t abandoning its Baltimore roots.

“I’m sure some readers will say, ‘Is he really going to make Baltimore still an important part of Catalyte?'” Derella told Technical.ly when he became Catalyst new CEOwhile living in New York. “All I can say is: We’re going to double down on Baltimore and grow the community. We want to be a company that the people of Baltimore and the greater Maryland area are truly proud of what we do.

Now, after a series of major raises, contracts and acquisitions that have solidified the Otterbein-based company’s reputation as a leading provider of technology training and consulting services across the country, Derella is leaving Catalyte. The same goes for countless other employees affected by a series of layoffs confirmed by current management and some of those affected.

“Unfortunately, we had to lay off some of our staff. We are constantly evaluating where we want to go as a company and continue to align our staff accordingly,” said Curt Schwab, president of Catalyte’s OnDemand service for employers seeking technology talent, in an email. “This has no impact on our ability to serve our clients, and we remain fully committed to our vision of matching top talent with leading companies.” »

Schwab declined to specify the size of the wave of layoffs, its department or geographic distribution, the occurrence of previous layoffs in recent years or the reasons for this round of layoffs. He also declined to “comment on specific employees affected.”

He noted that the company had worked with Derella, chief customer officer at Twitter for nearly a decade before leading Catalyte, upon its exit before any public announcement. Derella made the statement Tuesday in a LinkedIn post that said welcomed the projects of the new management to advance the company’s goals of connecting technology workforce needs to people from under-resourced groups.

“As I step down from the role of CEO, I am excited to see the company move forward with a leadership team that will guide Catalyte into the next phase of growth, continuing our mission of breaking down historical barriers to unlock economic opportunities for people who have the aptitude to work in technology but may not have access to skills and opportunities,” he wrote.

Derella’s post did not specify his next plans, but referenced his tenure on the Catalyte board before becoming CEO. He did not immediately respond to Technical.ly’s request for clarification on his departure or the reasons or actions behind the latest layoffs.

Catalyte, founded in 2000, imposed the layoffs despite several years of public success under the leadership of Derella and Jacob Hsu, the company’s former CEO who also serves on its board of directors. These criteria include, but are not limited to:

Schwab said none of the personnel changes hurt Catalyte’s “ability to serve our customers,” which its website says include Nike, Koch Industries and Coors Molson.

The exact extent of Catalyte’s latest layoffs remains unclear. Most recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) newspapers for Maryland And Illinoiswhere a Securities and Exchange Commission filing listed company registration Catalyte, did not list the company.

But several former Catalyte employees attested to having been fired during this round. Philip Tryon, an Austin-based account specialist on the company’s Talent Stream team, posted on LinkedIn about two weeks ago that he was “part of a dismissal; » he also said in his page bio that his position ended “due to company-wide layoffs.”

Communications director Adam Curtis told Technical.ly he was also laid off in early October, after eight years with the company. He said he was unaware of any layoff plans until he heard about hers. He said he didn’t feel like the layoffs affected some teams more than others, although he had a limited view.

“You can guess it was kept, I guess, pretty much a secret,” he said of the latest wave of layoffs.

Former Strategy Director Eliot Pearson said he hasn’t seen more than five to 10 layoffs in his roughly three years at Catalyte. He left the company amicably in 2022, after the company made some changes during the pandemic, moving from the in-house product he was working on to a different, more acquisition-based strategy. He highlighted Catalyte’s July announcement regarding new AI Consulting Services and believed this more recent pivot could have impacted the company’s current position.

Pearson also noted that some of Catalyte’s strengths, including its unique approach to technical training services, could have hindered it.

“Catalyte was so ahead of its time, and still is in its operation,” Pearson said. “But indeed, you have a product that people are not necessarily used to buying. … You have to culturally change people’s mentality, and that’s what you’re trying to sell as a service. So it’s a fascinating problem, but a difficult one.