Cengage reviews

2.8

30% would recommend to a friend

(2,405 total reviews)
avatar

Michael Hansen

38% approve of CEO

23% positive business outlook

Cengage has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,405 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
4.0
Feb 22, 2013

Getting better -- we're on the right track. finally!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

New senior leadership is on a mission to re-engage and rebuild employees and this business. Refreshing and inspiring.

Cons

Lots of change - some of it painful - to get Cengage back on course. If you can't stand ambiguity or change - this place is not for you.

5.0
Feb 19, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work/life balance. Competitive salary. Awesome team / collaborative / agile environment. Overall, this is a great place to work. I enjoy coming in almost every day, and I find the work interesting and challenging. I have learned more in my time at this job than in any other two jobs I can think of.

Cons

None that I can think of. It's a great place to work.

1.0
Feb 13, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are some genuinely good people who work there and some managers do try to keep up employee morale. There's an effort at creating social events but most who go leave very shortly after they get their free food and drinks. Okay benefits that keep decreasing a little each year(standard for industry, so 70% of insurance is company paid and 30% is out of pocket)

Cons

First, it's in a horrible location in South Boston! There's almost nothing around and no one ever knows how to get there. No cohesion within units. Cengage was made from a lot of mergers with smaller publishers and everyone has their own practices and rules. They're trying to create a brand name but no one in the industry knows who Cengage is. So much debt! They're in a lot of debt and they keep throwing away money on products that fail instead of giving money to the departments and products that deserve it. The pay is dismal. "Raises" are less than 2% and have only occurred once in the three years I worked there. Managers justify the low salary while simultaneously throwing away money on lavish dinners, conferences, and trips. Higher management punishes anyone who doesn't follow the "seen but not heard" rule. If you speak up, you become an outcast. They want people who are too afraid too ask for better pay or benefits or change in the office. Higher management wants to be worshiped and labels anyone who comes up with a unique idea of legitimate criticism as a troublemaker. HR is no help since the moment you come to them for advice, they're running off to tattle to the managers. It's a very poisonous environment. In the past year they've had THREE reorgs and have laid off a large number of people. There's supposedly a hiring freeze, yet they created nice cushy middle management positions and keep hiring top level positions. There's very little room for advancement at the bottom levels and they outright tell you that you have to stay there for 5 to 10 years before you can move beyond entry level and make a livable wage....as long as you kiss up to the managers. Right now there are so many open positions and when I left, most employees were doing the jobs of two or three people for no extra pay. If you worked overtime, forget about getting money! If you complained about the workload, watch out or people are going to start saying that you're a troublemaker. The company had potential years ago when the industry was good but it's all gone downhill and it's become a den of snakes. The previous CEO was decent, but the new one, Hansen, has been worse and worse. In the past few months he's fired a lot of longtime employees in order to bring in his friends from his previous company. Other managers have begun to do the same. This might be an okay place if you're looking to get a year or two of publishing experience, but it's not a place to make a career unless you enjoy being treated poorly.

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Glassdoor has 2,603 Cengage reviews submitted anonymously by Cengage employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Cengage is right for you.