Market: The market for textbooks has been declining for a while, but really took a dive in 2017. Over 50% of the company's revenue is still tied to products that include print [Yes, they'll tell you more than 50% is digital - it depends on how you classify all the products that include both. And revenue (as opposed to units) is larger for print]. The market for courseware is growing in terms of units sold (replacing hardcopy textboks), but is extremely price sensitive and is not about to replace the decline in printed textbooks. With low cost and often better open texts and courses gaining traction (see Rice's OpenSax - $10/course), another shoe is yet to drop. All of the erstwhile textbook publishers are going to have to cut costs a lot more than they already have to make ends meet (and produce profits for their owners).
Change: Leadership likes to call the company Changegage. Each year/semester brings change to the organization. Products and initiatives that were important get deferred. Teams get laid off when their products/releases get to market.
Politics: There is significant politics within management ranks. Engineering will get thrown under the bus if they miss a release date. Product teams get the run around. You won't see cross-functional teams that really work together, rather each org checks on the other. Engineering management is super-conservative and resists change. Scrum teams can't make change happen without long approvals.
Career: One of the things you notice when you work on the tech teams is that virtually no one has been here longer than 2 years (look on LinkedIn). After a couple years without bonuses and meaningful raises people see through the same-old management-speak and leave (if they aren't laid off yet). Don;t count on your 401K matching - it won't have time to vest :-(.
