Unsustainable workloads for below market compensation - Content Manager Cengage Employee Review

2.0
18 Mar 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-So many talented, dedicated team members -Great core mission -Flexible working location -Commendable response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Cons

-Extremely broad scope of responsibilities and tasks for Content Managers -Lots of scope and role creep for Content Managers as resources and support become more limited -Unsustainable workloads for the Content Managers (anticipate burnout) -Massive systems and record keeping issues (too many disconnected programs and applications; very tough to locate legacy information and documents) -Poor training/onboarding practices (very steep learning curves and other team members are the primary source of process training and sharing of legacy knowledge) -Anticipate experiencing change fatigue (team member turnover, process changes, standards changes, initiative rollouts) -Below market compensation for Content Managers with minimal career advancement opportunities (associate through senior levels of the role are the same in scope and responsibility -- the only thing that varies is the pay) -Cengage does not appear to be focused on employee retention

avatar
Cengage Response
4y
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I appreciate the positive candor about your team members, our mission and remote work. It is also great to hear that you are pleased with our COVID-19 response, creating a transparent dialog with employees was a priority for us through the uncertainty of the last two years. It is important to me that employees feel comfortable bringing forward their questions and feedback, and that they have opportunities to do so; this is something we will absolutely continue. I am saddened to hear that you were not satisfied with our onboarding process and felt that your responsibilities were too broad. Employee growth and development are areas that we are continuing to invest in and develop. Regarding compensation, our HR department closely analyzes the market to offer competitive, equitable compensation programs that recognize and reward strong performance. However, we recognize that we are not perfect, which is why we value your feedback. I wish you the best in your next endeavors. Best, Michael Hansen, CEO

Explore other reviews about Cengage

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 Jun 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.

13
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All