Is Cengage a good company to work for?

Cengage has an overall rating of 2.8 out of 5, based on over 2,611 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 17% over the last 12 months. 29% of employees would recommend working at Cengage to a friend and 23% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Cengage have been left by employees working as Senior Learning Consultant , Digital Success Specialist and Customer Success Manager .

Does Cengage pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Cengage employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.7 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Cengage. This rating has decreased by 13% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Cengage?

29% of Cengage employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Cengage 3.4 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.7 for culture and values and 2.3 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Cengage?

Learning Consultant (77) , Account Executive (62) , Sales Representative (56) , Manager (42) , Product Manager (36) , Project Manager (30) , Sales Consultant (30) , Sales (29) , Product Assistant (28) , Customer Service Representative (26) , Director (23) , Software Engineer (23) , Content Developer (19) , Account Manager (18) , Marketing (18)

What are the pros of working at Cengage according to real employee reviews?

"There are some great people at Cengage and the open work environment is collaborative and fast paced." ((in 313 reviews)); "Good benefits and easy onboarding" ((in 198 reviews)); "Work life balance is great" ((in 124 reviews)); "Colleagues are great and genuinely care." ((in 83 reviews)); "Great team to work with." ((in 66 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Cengage according to real employee reviews?

"Increasingly low pay for sales..little chance for advancement unless you are part of the "in crowd"" ((in 115 reviews)); "poor management of employees" ((in 104 reviews)); "Constant layoffs every two years and irrespective of how much significance you are to the team you might be laid off" ((in 72 reviews)); "Upper management is always reorganizing." ((in 69 reviews)); "Unfortunately salary is low and needs improvement" ((in 69 reviews))

What are employees saying about Cengage layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Cengage layoffs and their outlook for job security at Cengage in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Cengage locations?

Boston , Farmington Hills , Independence , Mason , San Francisco , Clifton Park , Cincinnati , Temecula , Raleigh , Chicago , New York , Belmont , Detroit , Los Angeles , Dallas , Albany , Madison , Florence , Washington , Houston , Atlanta , Richmond , Charlotte , San Diego , Louisville , Nashville , Seattle , Orlando , Remote , Birmingham

Cengage reviews

2.8

29% would recommend to a friend

(2,413 total reviews)

Michael Hansen

36% approve of CEO

23% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.4

Work/Life balance

3.1

Diversity & inclusion

2.7

Culture & values

2.7

Compensation and benefits

2.3

Career opportunities

2.2

Senior management

Cengage has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,413 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).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

1.0

Nov 2, 2023

I'm sure at some point the people who worked there cared

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Coasting is extremely easy. Can go weeks without producing anything. Work/Life Balance is nice. Just make sure you punch that time card and hand the work you need to do; off to India

Cons

Company is PE funded and being squeezed for ROI. The work you do doesn't matter and projects have no timeframes but instead of setting those management needs work to do so they'll micromanage your slack status instead.

2.0

Sep 7, 2023

Appearance of a Great Place to Work but Not Reality

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- The employees at Cengage are some of the best of the best and they deserve more than what this company can offer. There is a real sense of community and belonging among many of the employees. - The CEO is very transparent. Maybe too transparent even basically telling employees there will be lots of change and layoffs soon. He was really great at connecting with employees, but seems to have lost touch a bit more recently. - Benefits are really good. Lots of vacation time, company holidays, sick time and wellness days. Healthcare, 401K and parental leave all seem pretty solid for todays market. - Ability to work from home is great. Leadership has put a big emphasis on continuing with remote work and it works well at this company. Although remote, you still feel very connected and most people are respectful of work from home privileges. - Good work life balance depending on role you are in. Most managers are pretty easy going as far as managing your own work load.

Cons

- The market is really tough. Although, leadership tries to reassure you that things are going to change for the positive here soon, it never seems to. Pretty much constant decline in sales and enrollments. Leadership just keeps changing the way they look at the failure to make it seem not that bad. - The leadership team just can’t seem to figure it out and constantly make changes in departments. Every 2 or so years, they say “we got it this time”, lay-off half the team and then change job titles and responsibilities. When it doesn’t work out they rinse and repeat. Basically affects all areas of the organization, but especially higher ed. - The pay is below average and they continuously eliminate others roles so your responsibilities are constantly being added on to with no change in salary. Only promises of advancement opportunities (which are rare) to encourage you to go above and beyond on your workload. - The products are subpar. I don’t think anyone working there actually thinks they are good. They just convince educators to use them and then force students into purchasing them. Pretty much everyone hates them but fakes it for the sake of their job.

Cengage Response

2y

Thank you for taking the time to candidly share your experience. I am happy to hear that you enjoy the many benefits we provide including wellness days, parental leave, and remote work. Regarding the topic of change, I want to assure you that our strategy, and the work we all do to support it each day, is having an impact. In fact, we’ve seen two consecutive years of revenue growth which has reinforced our strategic approach and investment in growing education markets like skills training and English language learning. We are focused on transforming our operations to ensure efficient and impactful delivery amidst the evolving market landscape to ensure we can sustain and accelerate this growth going forward. We understand that change can sometimes create feelings of uncertainty. That's why we believe that creating space for open dialogue is the best approach. By embracing change and innovative technologies, we will secure our position as a market leader, sustaining and accelerating our overall success. If you have any specific questions or concerns, I encourage you to reach out to your manager or share your feedback with me directly. We value your insight and feedback about your experience. Best, Michael Hansen, CEO

3.0

May 5, 2023

There is better out there for you

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The people are some of the best I'd ever worked with. Good flexibility and reasonable people.

Cons

The industry is declining, they expect a lot of work out of you for little pay. They sell it with the "culture" - which is not wrong - but culture doesn't protect you from frequent layoffs and downsizing to control costs while the market and revenues continue to shrink. My advice to anyone looking at this company is to try to find a healthy company first. Cengage is great, but it can't overcome the mechanisms of the shrinking market and that will always be reflected in pay and job security. It's very stressful and it took me getting away to really see how stressful. Career advancement isn't great and in many cases is blocked by budgets year after year.

Cengage Response

3y

Thank you for reviewing your work experience at Cengage Group. I am pleased to hear that you enjoyed your colleagues and that found your work to be flexible. Regarding layoffs, the education industry is one of constant change, yet our strategy of delivering affordable high-quality materials to students remains the same. We periodically evaluate our approaches, and that sometimes results in difficult decisions about colleagues and teams. That said, these decisions are not taken lightly; we value every employee and the contributions they have made. Thank you for your more than 8 years of service, I wish you the best in your next endeavors. Best, Michael Hansen, CEO

Viewing 280 - 282 of 2,413 Reviews

Jobs at Cengage

Student Advisor (Remote)

Enrollment Representative (Remote Opportunity)

Bilingual Student Advisor (EST Time Zone Required) (Remote)

Customer Success Consultant

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