Laid off from Educational Testing Service.

What Educational Testing Service layoffs have meant for employees

Voluntary separation offers are a tool ETS has reached for more than once, in 2020 for employees with at least 15 years of service, according to Planet Princeton, and in 2024 for every U.S. employee with more than two years of service. In 2024, accepting one didn't guarantee an exit, since ETS kept the call on which acceptances to approve, Inside Higher Ed reported, and declining one didn't guarantee a job, given the CEO's warning that an involuntary layoff was likely to be needed. If you're ever offered a voluntary package, you can ask whether acceptance is guaranteed and what a later layoff would pay, if anything, since both answers change what the offer is worth. Weighing that against a deadline is hard, and harder after living through earlier rounds at the same place.

For raters, the work has slipped away in more than one way. TOEFL speaking raters told The PIE News that ETS kept asking for their availability every month as their shifts shrank, and many raters work part-time and say they've leaned on other jobs since. ETS has said moving scoring beyond the U.S. reflects an effort to meet international demand with a broader, global pool of scorers. In California, ETS said every affected rater could apply to keep doing the work with Measurement Inc., the San Francisco Chronicle reported, after its notice named that company to take over the scoring. If the program you score moves to another company, the incoming company is worth contacting about rater work, and a record of the shifts you were offered, confirmed and canceled can help you show how your hours changed.

ETS has explained its cuts in terms of its business. In 2020 it pointed to the pandemic's hit to its ability to deliver assessments, in 2023 Sevak said the changing needs of customers and the shifting demands of the business were driving the decisions, Inside Higher Ed reported, and in 2024 he said competitors were operating with a much lower and more flexible cost base. In a 2023 internal survey, one employee described the mood differently, writing that everyone was working under the constant possibility of having their job eliminated or outsourced. If you're explaining an ETS layoff to an interviewer, the company's own stated reasons are public, and there's more on explaining a layoff when the question comes up.

ETS has been changing shape, too. It bought PSI, a workforce certification and licensing company, in January 2024, and in June 2026 it announced its acquisition of ACT, according to Inside Higher Ed. Reports in January 2026 had ETS looking for a buyer or investors for the GRE and TOEFL, and by the end of June, according to the same article, no deal had been publicly announced. If the part of ETS you work in changes hands, it's fair to ask who your employer would be on the other side and whether your years of service travel with you.

For an unemployment claim after an ETS layoff, New Jersey unemployment benefits and California unemployment benefits explain how each of those states handles one. You can look up Educational Testing Service in our WARN tracker. If you're part of the Princeton group in ETS's September 2026 notice, which New Jersey's 2026 WARN list carries with two layoff dates, it's worth asking which date is yours and what you're paid until then. If your health coverage came through ETS, how COBRA works is worth a look, and if a severance agreement reaches you, there's more on negotiating severance.

A sourced history of Educational Testing Service layoffs

• September 2026, ETS notice for 62 Princeton jobs

  ETS set layoffs for 62 Princeton jobs on two dates, November 9 and December 31, in a notice New Jersey's 2026 WARN list dates to September.

• October 2025, ETS notice to end California scoring jobs

  ETS set December 31, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, to end constructed-response scoring for California programs including the ELPAC, CAST and CSA exams, along with 757 rater jobs tied to its Sacramento office.

• December 2024, ETS widens TOEFL scoring beyond U.S. raters

  ETS told scoring staff, according to The PIE News, that expanding its scoring beyond the U.S. “could result in a reduction of scoring hours for US-based raters.” U.S. speaking raters told the outlet their shifts had all but dried up.

• June 2024, ETS offers buyouts to U.S. staff

  ETS offered voluntary buyouts to every U.S. employee with over two years of service, Inside Higher Ed reported, and CEO Amit Sevak warned “it is likely that we may need to proceed with an involuntary layoff” afterward.

• September 2023, ETS announces a 6 percent staff cut

  ETS announced it was laying off 6 percent of its 2,500-plus employees, at its central Princeton complex and four satellite offices, according to Inside Higher Ed, and a spokesperson told BestColleges the people affected would stay on until January with a severance package.

• September 2021, ETS lays off more than 40, employees say

  More than 40 ETS employees were laid off in the week before September 16, ETS's fourth pandemic-era round, employees and former employees told Planet Princeton.

• March 2021, ETS's third pandemic round of layoffs

  ETS's third pandemic-era round of layoffs, according to Planet Princeton, included some higher-level employees.

• September 2020, ETS's second round of involuntary layoffs

  ETS's second pandemic-era round, according to Planet Princeton, was made up of involuntary layoffs.

• April 2020, pandemic pay cuts, buyouts and layoffs at ETS

  ETS cut pay, according to Planet Princeton, offered a voluntary separation agreement to employees with 15 or more years of service and laid off or furloughed others.

What to do if you're laid off from Educational Testing Service

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Educational Testing Service's biggest hubs: New Jersey, California. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Educational Testing Service's hub states run: New Jersey, California, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.