Struggling to move from yesterday to tomorrow - Anonymous employee Cengage Employee Review

3.0
Oct 27, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good work/life balance. Products that have the potential to really make a difference in the world. Recognizes that the old business model needs to change. Lots of people who really care about the company and the mission.

Cons

Too much bureaucracy. Many long-term employees seem satisfied with the status quo. Recognition of the need to change the business model often doesn't extend to feeling the need to change the supporting business practices or how the work gets done.

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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.

5
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