Good company, some bad apples - District Manager Cengage Employee Review

2.0
Jan 14, 2019
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Work-life balance was nice. For the most part, you are given the ability to "leave your work at the office," and maintain some free time outside of work. There are plenty of good people working there and the work is rewarding.

Cons

Favoritism is a major problem. Several undeserving employees were given every opportunity despite falling short of expectations. In some cases, they even created "new positions" for people who were personal friends with upper management. Meanwhile, many hard-working and highly successful employees were treated very poorly and their career goals were ignored, simply because they didn't have personal relationships with the "right people." They don't always value results, good ideas, or smart people. Instead, they too often value "yes men," who play the part, even if they don't produce. Double-standards are a major problem as well. Again, if you happen to be friends with the right people. you can get away with behavior that would never be accept from those who are not personal friends with those making decisions. This creates a culture of resentment and hopelessness for those on the wrong side of these double standards.

Explore other reviews about Cengage

5.0
Mar 28, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Total rewards, time off, great people and culture

Cons

Lots of changes and uncertainty at times

3.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Company has some interesting approaches to the market and in the past they seemed value employees. There are some good employees there and there was, in the past, visionary leadership, but the people with the vision and leadership skills left the company a few years ago.

Cons

The company actively de-values employees. They had a project they called "Project Horizon" where they told all employees they needed to cut costs, so the company was going to have multiple layoffs over 3-5 years - but nobody was allowed to know when, where, or why - - just one day large swaths of people would be gone. That hung over everyone's heads - for years, and is indicative of how Cengage values employees - it doesn't. Everything is about trying to secure new funding and prepare for an IPO, so they stopped investing significantly in the products about 3 years ago and that's about when they stopped acting like they cared about employee wellness as well.

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