Great work environment, high job satisfaction - Learning Design Author Cengage Employee Review

5.0
Apr 17, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Interesting work. Supportive managers and coworkers. No office politics. Great work-life balance with work from home 2 days per week. Free espresso bar every Monday. Free Keurig coffee everyday. Excellent health benefits. Commuter benefits. Beautiful brand new SF office with view of the bay from work station!

Cons

Sometimes have to jump unexpectedly from one project to another. Sometimes have mandatory corporate meetings or events with very little prior notice. Open seating means that at times there is a lot of noise and it can be difficult to concentrate. Expensive and long commute, but company subsidizes half of the cost. Bay area is an expensive place to live.

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.

6
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