Avoid Infosec Marketing. It's a sinking ship. - Marketing Director Cengage Employee Review

1.0
Sep 16, 2024
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits are decent. You get the standard US holidays, plus two extra Wellness Days, a paid volunteer day, and the week of Christmas off. Bereavement benefits allow you to take 10 days off within the next month (it applies to extended family as well, not just immediate family). Healthcare, dental and vision costs are on the lower side as well - not amazing, but typical compared to other enterprise companies. Cengage has a business Udemy account, which allows you to take some classes for free.

Cons

As a whole, Cengage has been plagued with layoffs and rampant outsourcing every quarter for the past 2 years. Both the HR and IT departments have been outsourced recently. There has been a major drive to cut budgets and spending, leading to low morale and overwork. Salaries are low compared to similar roles and companies, and I've seen great people leave for a 20k bump elsewhere. Many employees and leaders who were integral to building up Cengage's past success and infrastructure have been leaving in droves. Infosec specifically has been Cengage's pariah ever since it was bought. In the 3 years after the buyout, I've seen 10 different Marketing leaders (Director level and above) cycle out of the Marketing department, both voluntarily and through layoffs. Infosec's growth numbers are aggressive and unattainable. The blame often falls to Marketing meaning the team is asked to work harder with less resources only to be punished when those unrealistic goals are missed. Current Marketing leadership is brand new and self-serving: More interested in sucking up to Sales and upper management rather than learning about the business and its products, coming up with cohesive strategy, and addressing the underlying issues with the team. Proper leadership, mentorship and direction are sorely lacking. There is blatant nepotism and favoritism, and leaders are often busy covering for their mistakes and pointing fingers rather than taking accountability. If you aren't a "yes man," you won't survive the next layoff. Even if you are, you might still be thrown under the bus for your boss's failures. I've seen bullying and retaliation towards those who ask questions and who don't blindly follow upper management orders. I would tell you to avoid working for Cengage overall, but doubly so for Infosec since it is a sinking ship.

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Cengage Response
1y
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I am happy to hear that you are satisfied with the many benefits and professional development opportunities that we offer. I appreciate your feedback, and I would like to address your concerns by providing some clarifications. First, I want to emphasize that at Cengage Group, we are committed to striving for greater profitability. This drive is essential as it allows us to expand our impact and reach with learners on a significant scale. Second, after experiencing several years of revenue decline, primarily due to challenges in higher education enrollment, Cengage Group has successfully achieved three consecutive years of robust revenue growth and our profitability has grown at an accelerated pace. Infosec is the third fastest growing business within the Cengage Group portfolio and is a key part of the broader Cengage Work business unit that is the go-forward growth engine for Cengage Group. Lastly, we have made necessary refinements within our Infosec Marketing organization to ensure that it is well-equipped to support the growth outlook we have for the business. These adjustments exemplify our commitment to continuously seeking opportunities for improvement. With that, I understand that Cengage Group isn’t the right fit for everyone. I thank you for your service to Infosec and wish you the best of luck. Best, Bret Fund, SVP and General Manager

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Pros

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Cons

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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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