Toxic Tech Environment, good people in print - Anonymous employee Cengage Employee Review

1.0
19 June 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The old school publishing side of the house is a real family.

Cons

The technology side is awful, filled with squeeky wheels, toxic tech Bros, and is cut throat. If you're a strong female, look out! They will call you names behind your back and your management will tell you to be nicer. Also, no raises over 2 years! And no work life balance... Regularly got requests for info on a Sunday night that "couldn't wait"

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5.0
28 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Total rewards, time off, great people and culture

Cons

Lots of changes and uncertainty at times

3.0
4 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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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