Cengage reviews

2.8

30% would recommend to a friend

(2,409 total reviews)
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Michael Hansen

38% approve of CEO

23% positive business outlook

Cengage has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,409 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Cengage employee rating is 25% below average for employers within the Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
Jun 11, 2008

Cengage - be careful what you wish for.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you're passionate about publishing and books in general, then this place is for you.

Cons

It's too spread geographically across the country, thus limiting the effective collaboration and teamwork. Moreover, if you're from software or high technology background, this place will shock you.

1.0
Jun 15, 2026

Soulless, heartless, broke(n)

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Still fully remote, no more offices. Great people who are dedicated to the work.

Cons

Nearly everything else. This company has carried out mass layoffs relentlessly, month after month and year after year, including loyal 10-30 year employees that they replace for half the price if at all. Loyalty here means nothing; the company has made it clear they don’t care about you. They won’t invest in your growth (though they’ll put on a show that they do). They won’t fix deep, systemic issues with morale (though they’ll act like they’re addressing them). Advancement here has nothing to do with talent or results. It’s all about obedience theater, parroting leaderships corporate nonsense, and showing public loyalty at the all costs (including your dignity.) 90% of your time at this company will be spent on managing or participating in office politics, the other 10% is maybe doing your job if you’re lucky. In reality, it seems like they’re deliberately pushing people out, likely to avoid paying severance and to refill or outsource positions at a fraction of the cost. Employee moral is at an all time low, though leadership likes to pretend otherwise and look the other way. They will pays lip service to autonomy and empowerment, but in practice micromanages every minor detail while also belittling their people. They pretend to be inventive, announcing half-baked initiatives handed down with no real thought behind them, while expecting employees to treat these directives as gospel though there is zero thought put into actual execution. The result is that everything is half-assed, rushed, and outsourced at twice the expense for half the quality, all on the backs of the remaining full-time employees. You won’t be valued as a professional; you’ll simply be a life raft for leadership and the private equity firm in their pursuit of an IPO.

3.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Company has some interesting approaches to the market and in the past they seemed value employees. There are some good employees there and there was, in the past, visionary leadership, but the people with the vision and leadership skills left the company a few years ago.

Cons

The company actively de-values employees. They had a project they called "Project Horizon" where they told all employees they needed to cut costs, so the company was going to have multiple layoffs over 3-5 years - but nobody was allowed to know when, where, or why - - just one day large swaths of people would be gone. That hung over everyone's heads - for years, and is indicative of how Cengage values employees - it doesn't. Everything is about trying to secure new funding and prepare for an IPO, so they stopped investing significantly in the products about 3 years ago and that's about when they stopped acting like they cared about employee wellness as well.

Viewing 214 - 216 of 2,409 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,607 Cengage reviews submitted anonymously by Cengage employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Cengage is right for you.