Decline via Venture Capitalism - Sr Engineering Manager Cengage Employee Review

2.0
Sep 2, 2025
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Average work/life balance and benefits. Some employees still care. The overall mission of Cengage is strong and there are some true believers still working for the company.

Cons

Cengage is now ruled by a huge investment from a venture capitalist. It has caused massive layoffs and outsourcing with no signs of stopping. Investment is driven by the venture capitalist firm on their terms. The only way to scale up is to use their chosen offshore vendor and technology. No creativity from employees is encouraged or welcome. If it doesn't have AI in the idea, it will be ignored. The CEO abandoned all DEI policies and made refused to own the decision forcing others to take the blame.

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Cengage Response
8mo
Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective and for your more than five years of contributions at Cengage Group. As a for-profit company, we must evolve in ways that help us better serve customers, remain competitive, and manage costs responsibly. We also have an obligation to our shareholders to optimize results — just as most retirement and 401(k) funds invest in companies like ours with the expectation of sustainable returns. Balancing the needs of customers, employees, and shareholders is essential for our long-term health. We recognize that change can be difficult and that valued colleagues have been impacted. While we do leverage global talent, we are committed to doing so thoughtfully, with a focus on preserving expertise and continuity. At the same time, we continue to encourage creativity through our investment committee model, which allows employees across the organization to bring forward and fund new ideas — whether AI-related or otherwise. Finally, we emphasize inclusion and belonging hand in hand with a merit-based culture. As our Credo states, we are responsible to and for each other. Our Employee Resource Groups remain vital to fostering this culture, and we are committed to supporting them as we move forward together. — Michael Hansen, CEO

Explore other reviews about Cengage

5.0
Mar 28, 2026
Recommend
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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.

10
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