I would not work here again. - Software Developer Cengage Employee Review

1.0
Aug 1, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I liked the location. I lived nearby in Mason. I was a consultant, so I can't speak to benefits, salary, schedule, etc... There is lots of room for improvement

Cons

As soon as I started the senior developer left and there was no documentation. I was in a situation with unrealistic expectations and no way to get the information I needed to do my job. The management was disconnected and confused. My boss was trying harder to be a programmer, than a manager. There is not really a road map for the future. There are planned goals, but no one seems to know when or if these goals will be achieved.I noticed that many of my colleagues there felt the same. The financial problems problems seemed to create a feeling of uncertainty about the future among the employees. There also seemed to be no potential for upward mobility. While I was there, people left because they didn't think they would ever get promoted. Overall, this was a terrible experience. If I weren't a consultant, I would have quit right away.

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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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