What was once an incredibly energetic, forward-thinking, mindful organization..... - Anonymous employee Cengage Employee Review

2.0
Mar 27, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Once upon a time, this company felt like a large family. There was a spirit of community, sharing of resources and market knowledge, going boldly where others feared to tread (without punishment should the experiment fail). The various imprints were well determined and recognized as leaders in their respective disciplines. There are (inexplicably) still some amazingly creative and dedicated people still working here.

Cons

The avalanche began just as soon as the new name (inspirational? I think not) was launched, and new management took their seats. Cengage is hardly the center of engagement, rather it is the center of chaos. There is no longer any brand recognition other than the fact that Cengage's texts cost significantly more than the competitors'. We were (of course) told to tell our customers that it's not really about price, but about superior content, superior service, superior teaching and learning tools. None of these elements truly exist, and the customers know it. The lack of focus, bi-monthly (often monthly) changes in direction, absurd accountability goals (I mean absurd, not aggressive), and no unifying digital story has turned what was once a really fabulous place into a mud pit. Morale is terrible, lay offs have been swift, extensive and come with no warning, and adding price increases every season is such a blind move--it's absolutely clear that upper management either doesn't care about the employees who work long hours through the work week as well as weekends so as to keep up with endless minutia, and/or is only concerned about their 6-figure salaries and bonuses. Too bad. What was once a lot of fun turned out to be "just another job".

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5.0
Mar 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Total rewards, time off, great people and culture

Cons

Lots of changes and uncertainty at times

1.0
Jul 13, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The individuals below the management level are good people, with some good people at management but C-Suite is horrible.

Cons

C-Suite hides their plans under corporate speak. Cengage was a family owned private company and they sold and ever since then has had, debt, schemes to shuffle and restructure debt while implementing RIFs after RIFs after RIFs...never ending and amazingly has been in increased this last year. From their actions it's outsource as much as you can of company operations and squeeze value from Intellectual Property. Look how many times they've renamed themselves. They had a CTO join for about a month or two until she realized it was a role with no team, no authority and left. The CEO is amazing at spin, you hear "great, great, great" corporate speak as the reality on the ground is "this failed, that failed..what!? they're gone!...what they moved that department offshore!...what!? that department is now a vendor relationship...oh we're not DEI focused because the wind changed". The trend is contraction not expansion, no ground breaking innovation. My jaded view from college on expensive books has only grew since I see how the sausage is made.

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