What are we really trying to do here, people? - Product Management Cengage Employee Review

3.0
Apr 24, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some of the smartest people I've ever worked with here at Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. Most are friendly and helpful. Management is very approachable and will make time to actually sit and talk with you. Technology development has transitioned to Agile, which has helped in getting new projects up and running.

Cons

The technology development group seems locked in on using, and re-using, older technology. Instead of fixing bad code, they are content to buy more, bigger, faster hardware in the hopes of keeping performance at the user end acceptable. Pay is a little on the low side and annual raises are 2% and less.

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5.0
Mar 28, 2026
Recommend
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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.

2
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