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Ascend Learning

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Ascend Learning reviews

3.9

62% would recommend to a friend

(510 total reviews)
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Greg Sebasky

58% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Ascend Learning has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 510 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Ascend Learning employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

510 reviews
2.0
Jul 3, 2018

Jump on the merry go round if you dare

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Decent pay - Annual bonus - "Unlimited" PTO - Can be promoted quickly if you are identified as a high potential employee

Cons

- Despite strong financial performance in 2017, raises were laughably small this year - Frequent reorganization of teams and management structures leads to instability - Poor communication across the board - Some processes are way too complicated and needlessly time-consuming, while other processes are nearly non-existent - HR is more focused on making sure people watch the annual harassment video than on creating a culture of trust - Overworked tech & ops (shared service) teams, leading to burnout and avoidable mistakes - People are way more focused on covering their butts than an actually getting things done, because there is no trust - Company organization and bonus structure is designed to make business units fight each other for shared resources to complete their projects, so that they make their profit margins and get their bonuses - Culture may be good in high performing business units, but in lower performing BUs and in T&O it's basically nonexistent. There is a lot of lip service given to culture at the corporate level, but all it's one-sided. Employees are expected to be selfless and courageous, but I have never seen those qualities from executive leadership. They exist in a bubble, very much removed from the rank and file employees, except for a "town hall" meeting once a year. You are encouraged to submit questions ahead of time, but they then cherry pick the ones they want to answer.

1.0
Mar 20, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Much of the staff is dedicated and helpful. The small tech company I worked at was bought by Ascend. It had a similar vibe to a video game studio, where much of development staff would likely be working if that industry was bigger in NY.

Cons

Turnover is through the roof. No one stays longer than a couple years, and for good reason. Employees are talked down to and taken advantage of. Self-serving climbers take advantage of how out of touch management is to secure roles for themselves at the expense of competent staff. Upper management is broken beyond repair. Some are incompetent hires only around due to nepotism. Some are self-important bullies. Giant parent corporation constantly lies to employees to cheat them out of benefits and opportunities. HR is their tool to do so.

3.0
Feb 14, 2016

It's not the worst place to land, but not something to strive for

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Strong benefits. Unlimited PTO, lots of holidays, more or less the standard insurance/disability array at a good price, and some tuition reimbursement. Pay varies significantly, but can be very good for those who are strong performers and advocate for themselves. Decent chances for advancement.

Cons

Dysfunctional leadership that bounces back and forth between initiatives. That is even more the case within technology and PMO. Leadership will talk with a straight face about pursuing Agile and Dev/Ops at the same time that they implement an extremely onerous technology/tool approval process and Council.

Viewing 16 - 18 of 510 Reviews

Glassdoor has 554 Ascend Learning reviews submitted anonymously by Ascend Learning employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Ascend Learning is right for you.