Cengage changes it sales structure twice in under a year. - Sales Manager Cengage Employee Review

1.0
Feb 1, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The Cengage Sales People...well, it used to be anyway, until they laid off almost 200 of them in the Higher Ed Group this week.

Cons

Beaurocracy at the top. Cengage keeps changing it's sales structure again and again, without giving it time to work. In June, Cengage had a major reorg in sales structure, and had some layoffs. Then, after outgoing head of sales (who made reorg) gets the boot, and they bring in new CEO, who then hires a new head of Sales (from Pearson) in December. Then, in February, yet another reorg, in which they lay off almost 200 employees, and reconfigure positions and sales territories, right in height of sales season. They dismissed hardworking, long time employees, many with terrific track records.

Explore other reviews about Cengage

5.0
Mar 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Total rewards, time off, great people and culture

Cons

Lots of changes and uncertainty at times

1.0
Jul 13, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The individuals below the management level are good people, with some good people at management but C-Suite is horrible.

Cons

C-Suite hides their plans under corporate speak. Cengage was a family owned private company and they sold and ever since then has had, debt, schemes to shuffle and restructure debt while implementing RIFs after RIFs after RIFs...never ending and amazingly has been in increased this last year. From their actions it's outsource as much as you can of company operations and squeeze value from Intellectual Property. Look how many times they've renamed themselves. They had a CTO join for about a month or two until she realized it was a role with no team, no authority and left. The CEO is amazing at spin, you hear "great, great, great" corporate speak as the reality on the ground is "this failed, that failed..what!? they're gone!...what they moved that department offshore!...what!? that department is now a vendor relationship...oh we're not DEI focused because the wind changed". The trend is contraction not expansion, no ground breaking innovation. My jaded view from college on expensive books has only grew since I see how the sausage is made.

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