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 4.4 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 284 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 164 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 139 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 54 reviews)); "Customers shows lot of respect to the company good work culture" ((in 40 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 95 reviews)); "the pay is low but everything else was great" ((in 91 reviews)); "Management on the corporate side is poor with very little business development experience." ((in 81 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 52 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

91% approve of CEO

75% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

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Gender

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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

Apr 12, 2024

Disappointing. Frustrating

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Colleagues are hardworking and dedicated people. Flexible work/life balance if you get the mercy of being able to step away from your computer.

Cons

They pull you in with rosy remarks about their culture, team spirit, and mission. Yet, every single promise of opportunity for growth, pay, head counts, and reduced workload due to more resources have all been a big fat lie. They claim to benchmark salaries to your local market, yet my last raise doesn't even put me above the low income line as a SINGLE EARNER. Workloads are ridiculous due to how many hoops teams need to jump through for headcount. Expect to work double if you're caught in the middle of leadership priorities flip-flopping.

Elsevier Response

2y

Thank you for your review. We take it seriously but need to delve more into the issues highlighted in your review. Our recent employee opinion survey shows strong positive momentum in how people experience working at Elsevier, but it appears that hasn’t been the case here. We want to ensure that Elsevier is where all employees trust leaders and feel supported by our HR team. We want our organization to continue to be an excellent place for all our people to work, where our employees feel valued and have equal opportunities. As you have not disclosed your role or location for us to investigate this further, please contact us at elseviergdrev@elsevier.com to provide more information. Again, thanks for your review.

4.0

Mar 13, 2024

Great place to work

Product manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Team was highly collaborative and passionate about the product and client engagements

Cons

Shifting of priorities in clinical solutions was often "on a dime" and lacked clarification to effected teams when resources were diverted. This happened quite often. Also, when the product is branded "business as usual" it became very difficult to obtain resources since growth was not expected. You often did more with less.

Elsevier Response

2y

Thanks for finding the time to leave us your review.

3.0

Feb 25, 2024

Great flexibility, lovely people

Associate scientific editor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The company provides flexibility, support, people are lovely The company provides a great opportunity to start your career outside academia

Cons

The salary is not accurate for the experience you hold, role and the work required. Very minimal salary adjustments every year. Growth is limited, to jump to next step in your career, you need to jump to a different role or department. If you do your work above and beyond, there is no guarantee you will get to the next step

Elsevier Response

2y

Thanks for your review. Compensation is always a hot topic in any industry. Here, we benchmark our salaries externally, we use both a general benchmark and a role specific benchmark to ensure we stay competitive. Through organizational commitment, we take a combined approach to our people's growth and professional development strategies. We empower them to see RELX and our sister companies as well as Elsevier a huge job marketplace for them to explore.

Viewing 388 - 390 of 2,189 Reviews

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Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Disappointing. Frustrating

Great place to work

Great flexibility, lovely people

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Jobs at Elsevier