coding dojo napkin
Coding Dojo was named a Seattle 10 company in 2016 and came up with this cocktail napkin design for GeekWire, describing its business. (GeekWire photo / Kevin Lisota)

Coding Dojo, the Bellevue, Wash.-based developer bootcamp with eight campuses in five states, has cut 10 full-time employees, GeekWire learned this week.

A member of this year’s class of startups in the Seattle 10, Coding Dojo offers courses in Python, Ruby and other programming languages and teaches students the basics of coding in just 14 weeks. Campuses are located in Seattle, Dallas, San Jose, Calif., Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Calif., and Orange County, Calif.

A Coding Dojo spokesperson provided GeekWire with a statement regarding the staff reductions:

“Coding Dojo has experienced significant growth and remains focused on expansion, offering students additional class options at our existing facilities and reaching more students by opening new campuses. Growth involves change, and for us that means a leaner organizational structure. Unfortunately, that translates to a reduction of 10 full-time employees. With a renewed emphasis on efficiency, we remain committed to our mission of transforming lives through programming literacy.”

The spokesperson said that the impact of the layoffs was nationwide and that Coding Dojo continues to employ 100 people. A December story in GeekWire, about the company’s expansion in California, said that more than 2,000 students have graduated from Coding Dojo’s programs.

Richard Wang
Coding Dojo CEO Richard Wang.

CEO Richard Wang called 2016 a great year for the startup as he celebrated its Seattle 10 placement during the GeekWire Gala before the holidays.

He said plans for 2017 included evangelizing the company’s efforts even more to six different cities. Wang said Coding Dojo was looking into major metropolitan and “second-tier” cities around the country with a vision to “rebuild and upscale the workforce for America.”

In a 2015 Startup Spotlight, Wang told GeekWire, “We’re setting our goals high and hope to transform the lives of 1 million people through programming literacy by 2025.”

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