Infected by management consultant brain rot - User Experience Designer Cengage Employee Review

2.0
May 20, 2025
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

-My direct people managers were all fantastic, competent, caring people -Good work/life balance

Cons

Since Apollo Capital's $500m investment several years ago, there has been consistent pressure to cut costs by swapping seasoned professionals for offshore contractors. Leadership continues to spout propaganda about the product's quality being the same, which isn't believable to those in the know. As employee morale plummets (25% engagement drop over 3 years), leadership repeatedly mouths platitudes about getting better at managing change and this all being in service of making the company operate with 'simplicity'. Leadership waves giant reorgs into existence, eliminates hundreds of roles without a clear, detailed plan for how things are going to look after.

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Cengage Response
1y
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and for your more than ten years of service at Cengage Group. I appreciate your perspective and the thoughtfulness of your feedback. Organizational transformation—particularly when it involves changes to operating models and workforce structure—is complex and often difficult. These decisions are not made lightly. We are navigating a diverse set of business units, technologies, and team structures, and while we are committed to simplifying how we operate, we understand that this cannot be achieved overnight. It requires thoughtful planning, clear communication, and input from those closest to the work. We also recognize the complexity involved in shifting to a new operating model and the importance of preserving institutional knowledge throughout that process. At the same time, we believe that integrating new perspectives—whether through internal mobility or external partnerships—can help us innovate and adapt in a rapidly changing environment. That balance is not always easy, and we are continuing to evaluate how we maintain critical knowledge while evolving our capabilities. Regarding communication during recent organizational changes, we understand that these moments can create uncertainty, and we remain focused on providing clarity and consistency while maintaining alignment with our values. We aim to strike the right balance between transparency and enabling employees to stay focused on their work. We remain committed to building a stronger, more resilient organization. Thank you again for your contributions during your time at Cengage. —Michael Hansen, CEO

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5.0
Mar 28, 2026
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Pros

Total rewards, time off, great people and culture

Cons

Lots of changes and uncertainty at times

3.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
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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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