Does Elsevier pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Elsevier employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Elsevier. This rating has improved by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Elsevier?

79% of Elsevier employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Elsevier 4.5 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.2 for culture and values and 3.6 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Elsevier?

Software Engineer (78) , Senior Software Engineer (63) , Account Manager (61) , Product Manager (55) , Journal Manager (49) , Project Manager (37) , Publisher (30) , Director (29) , Editor (28) , Manager (23) , Sales (22) , Editorial Project Manager (21) , Marketing (18) , Software Engineer III (18) , Data Scientist (16)

What are the pros of working at Elsevier according to real employee reviews?

"Flexibility and good work/life balance" ((in 285 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 167 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 146 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 55 reviews)); "Customers shows lot of respect to the company good work culture" ((in 42 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Elsevier according to real employee reviews?

"We're continued to be asked to develop "world class content" with third world resources and insultingly low salaries." ((in 99 reviews)); "the pay is low but everything else was great" ((in 88 reviews)); "Management on the corporate side is poor with very little business development experience." ((in 83 reviews)); "level and higher managers result in poor leadership and decision" ((in 54 reviews)); "There are also bad managers and seemingly no easy way to reduce their impact on the staff for whom they are responsible." ((in 50 reviews))

What are employees saying about Elsevier layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Elsevier layoffs and their outlook for job security at Elsevier in 2026.

Elsevier reviews

4.0

79% would recommend to a friend

(2,189 total reviews)

Kumsal Bayazit

90% approve of CEO

75% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

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Elsevier has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 2,189 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Elsevier employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Audiovisual y medios de comunicación industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

2.0

May 2, 2019

Outdated technology, not truly agile, heavy reliance on contractors based abroad

Software engineer-ii

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good work life balance Ability to work from home

Cons

Team members are mostly contractors based abroad, which makes it difficult to collaborate and practices like pair programming are nonexistent. This is probably just down to luck based on the team you join, as I know this experience isn't universal across the company. Low pay rises, bonus isnt competitive. Oxford offices are hideous, and have terrible facilities (e.g. There's no food options nearby so your only option is the canteen which is overpriced and of terrible quality).

Elsevier Response

7y

Thank you for your review. We sometimes use contractors due to project peaks. At Elsevier, we encourage collaboration across locations because it allows us to bring varied talents together, and it helps us to further develop a pool of different skills and knowledge. We offer a competitive salary and great benefits package. Most of the reviews on Glassdoor left by our employees located in our Oxford office about our facilities are positive.

1.0

Apr 12, 2019

Underpaid, overworked, poor management decisions

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Working specifically for The Lancet group of journals can be a good experience, especially given the passionate, smart, and hardworking people who populate the various roles that get the journals to press.

Cons

The editorial roles at The Lancet journals are underpaid given how well qualified and experienced staff are expected to be (and certainly underpaid compared with most high-profile competitors in London and elsewhere). Additionally, very poor management decisions often leave people in middling roles shouldering the majority of the work and unable to progress, with no ability to negotiate any increase in salary. Performance-related pay is an absolute joke, with a forced curve that leaves many of the hardest working people receiving annual real-terms pay cuts, with novelty targets valued much more highly than the actual work involved in maintaining quality output. Meanwhile self-confidence is valued much more highly than skill or experience in promotion and hiring decisions.

5.0

Mar 27, 2019

Great place to work

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Lots to learn, flexible and open environment

Cons

Can feel too big at times, keeping track of people from different parts of the org can get overwhelming

Elsevier Response

7y

Thank you for your review.

Viewing 319 - 321 of 2,189 Reviews

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Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Outdated technology, not truly agile, heavy reliance on contractors based abroad

Underpaid, overworked, poor management decisions

Great place to work

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Jobs at Elsevier