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 283 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 165 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 143 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 53 reviews)); "Customers shows lot of respect to the company good work culture" ((in 35 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 101 reviews)); "the pay is low but everything else was great" ((in 85 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 55 reviews)); "There are also bad managers and seemingly no easy way to reduce their impact on the staff for whom they are responsible." ((in 46 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

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (2,189 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

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

3.0

Feb 26, 2024

Fair enough

Managing editor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Elsevier likes to try to keep up with advances in publishing technology. I much appreciate, as an editor, that although the company is huge I can get tech help via chat.

Cons

Because Elsevier is so big, it can be very impersonal, and there can be holes and/or overlap between the many roles that employees fill. The future of big for-profit academic publishers is a bit in question right now, too, for a number of reasons.

Elsevier Response

2y

Thank you for leaving 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.

5.0

Feb 21, 2024

Great place to work

Associate publisher

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

High skilled colleagues, fine work-life balance, great incentive plan

Cons

Not a good public image, needs to improve the storytelling of the company

Elsevier Response

2y

Thank you for leaving us your review.

Viewing 424 - 426 of 2,189 Reviews

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Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Fair enough

Great flexibility, lovely people

Great place to work

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