Cengage reviews

3.0

34% would recommend to a friend

(2,397 total reviews)
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Michael Hansen

43% approve of CEO

27% positive business outlook

Cengage has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 2,397 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Cengage employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Mídia e comunicação industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
2.0
Mar 20, 2025

Getting Worse Every Day

Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

At the individual contributor level, my colleagues are truly fantastic—caring, supportive, and passionate people who genuinely believe in the value of education. Working alongside them has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my experience here.

Cons

I've been with the company for 5 years and have lost count of how many reorgs have taken place. Recently, these changes have been made under the banner of "simplicity" with little explanation or tangible improvement. On the tech side, most software engineering has been offshored, resulting in a noticeable decline in quality: more bugs, rolling back releases, implementation not as designed. If you're located within 25 miles of an office, expect to be required to commute just to spend your day on virtual calls. This policy is framed as "team building," but in my nearly 20 year career, it has been one of the most alienating in-office experiences I've ever had. If diversity, equity, and inclusion are important to you, it's worth noting that the Director of DEI&B was recently let go. Given that previous directors have also had short tenures (usually less than 18 months), it raises questions about the company's genuine commitment to these values. Lastly, voicing concerns in all-hands meetings often results in leadership dismissing or contradicting the feedback based on their own differing experiences, which can feel dismissive and disheartening.

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Cengage Response
1y
I hear you. I do not take lightly the changes that we have gone through over the last year. I am, however, proud of the way we have transformed our business in the last decade to ensure we are able to invest in the business and meet the needs of customers. I am proud of the nearly 7M students we have helped save $920M on course materials with Cengage Unlimited and I am proud of the more than 250,000 individuals we help upskill and reskill in the workforce each year. I am proud of the tens of millions of students in more than 100 countries we have helped to learn English and start on a path to achieve their dreams. To achieve these things has meant we have to closely examine how we do business so we can best serve our customers. In terms of work arrangements, we are committed to embracing approaches that allow our teams to thrive. Our leaders have been observing teams, experimenting with different models, and adapting as needed to set their teams up for success. We have learned that face-to-face interaction is invaluable in certain areas, such as building trust among team members and onboarding new employees. I encourage you to speak with your manager about your experience as we continue to experiment, adapt, and evolve our approach, it is important to have feedback from employees on the model. Regarding the Director of DEIB position, we remain committed to embedding inclusive and fair practices into our policies, as well as supporting and enabling our employee resource groups. This work is not the responsibility of one person; it is everyone's responsibility. Please feel free to reach out to me directly with any further concerns or ideas on how we can improve. Best, Michael Hansen, CEO
3.0
Mar 20, 2025

Talent retention

Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

- Investing cautiously in innovative products that leverage AI.

Cons

- Too many lay-offs recently for cost-cutting purposes. - Star performers were let go.

4.0
Mar 15, 2025
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, good benefits, great work life balance

Cons

There is little opportunity for upward mobility

Viewing 145 - 147 of 2,397 Reviews

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