Executives have made a mockery of health, wellness and mission - Content Manager Cengage Employee Review

1.0
Jan 28, 2024
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Cengage employs some of the most talented and dedicated -- and intelligent -- people I've ever worked with. I've worked on several different discipline teams and never encountered anyone who does not pitch in when asked -- or volunteer even before being asked. The discourse is always lively, the ideas amazing. Employees are the biggest pro. Until last year, the culture was incomparable, and the mission of the company was clear. We all respected and were proud to work for CEO Michael Hansen until an about-face in mission last year that seems aimed at readying the company for sale.

Cons

Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Cengage has spoken a great deal about employee health, both physical and mental, and offered support via counseling services, time off. However, the executive team last summer announced a period of 12-18 months of refocus and reorganization that would involve difficult layoffs. Since then, the majority of employees have been living with worry, uncertainty and anguish. Layoffs are hitting good employees hard, with another 6-10 months to come of uncertainty and fear as more employees are let go despite the company's financial situation being healthy. We used to be an education company, then an edtech company, and now we do not know what we are. Concerns for quality in our products seem to have taken a backseat to the drive to cut costs and in all likelihood, get the company looking good for a sale in the future. The mental health of employees has been treated so cavalierly with these warnings of significant impending cuts over a long stretch of time. Morale is at an all-time low and the joy of the work we do is decimated. We no longer even know what our jobs are. The executive team will oversee a sale, get their bonuses and walk away to new roles elsewhere. Those of us living on far lower salaries and no bonuses will have to put our pride of working for an education company aside and search for work elsewhere. But we are told it's all in the name of progress, of moving ahead.

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Cengage Response
2y
Thank you for your review and for your more than 10 years of service. I appreciate the positive remarks about your talented and dedicated co-workers – I agree and have experienced the same in working with individuals across the organization. I understand that change can bring feelings of uncertainty. I strongly feel that transparency about our evolution as a company, and why we are making these changes, are important to ensuring employees feel invested in our business strategy and success. I know this transparency can sometimes contribute to those feelings of uncertainty, but I am saddened to hear you feel like the vision of what we do is no longer clear. I’m proud of the work we have done to better meet the needs of learners and educators. Together, we’ve evolved into a leading global edtech company that is now more than 70% digital, continues to gain market share from competitors and that has tenure amongst our leadership team that is envied by many competitors. Best, Michael Hansen, CEO

Explore other reviews about Cengage

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.

10
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