Pros
The best reason to work at Cengage is - hands down - the people that work there. The higher ed publishing industry is full of good people and Cengage is no exception. You'll find a lot of professionalism and forward thinking departments and initiatives, all coming from people who you want to work with each day. I particularly enjoyed interaction with the authors I worked with and enjoyed their insights into academic disciplines I left behind years ago. There's nothing wrong with keeping one foot in academia and one in business. I found that to be quite fun. There are a lot of career opportunities as well. I switched departments, moved up, moved sideways, then up again back in my original department. Vacation and benefits are some of the most generous around. The company takes care of their employees and offers a lot of training programs during company time.
Cons
The entire industry is in the middle of a massive transition from print to digital and Cengage is on the forefront with their technology, but I fear upper management still doesn't quite understand the core customer base as well as they should. Outdated pricing models continue to cause backlash in the dwindling print market (which is still where most of the profit comes from) and cash-strapped educational institutions, luddite professors, and tech savvy students are a brutal combination to market towards. I fear that the models Cengage has set up for the future won't overcome the struggles the industry faces. Also, there's the private equity ownership situation, which is causing undue stresses within the company, taking away from what should be the core focus of providing students with affordable, quality course materials. Regarding work/life balance, I found there to be a major discrepancy between departments. The work never ends in some departments and there is too much emphasis on working at night and on the weekends. One becomes the black sheep if they tend to leave at 5pm and not work at night. It's easy to fall behind. Furthermore, the cycles don't change from year-to-year. It's tough to repeat the same tasks year in and year out without much change or reward. Burn-out central. Also, it's publishing, the pay is low, but if you are in marketing or sales, you might get a generous yearly bonus depending on performance.