Good people - bad Management - Manager Cengage Employee Review

2.0
Jul 16, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good and kind people here.

Cons

Execs putting a ton of pressure to get to certain numbers to please investors with no true regard for employees. Culture is in a fearful place, nothing feels good enough or appreciated. Middle management feels like they're desperately managing up to please execs. Employees feel 100% dispensable despite the company running on their backs.

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Cengage Response
1y
Thank you for leaving a review about your experience. I agree with you that our people are our greatest asset. Our recent efforts in restructuring the business have been focused on reducing duplicative efforts in our businesses and establishing a shared services group. These efforts unfortunately mean we must make difficult decisions about our colleagues and teams. The changes we are making to our operating model will enable us to operate more efficiently and effectively, as well as invest further in the products and services that we provide to our customers. I understand that change can bring feelings of uncertainty, but my goal is to lead with transparency and create various opportunities for open dialogue. I appreciate your feedback as we continue to improve. Best, Michael Hansen, CEO 

Explore other reviews about Cengage

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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