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 2% 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, 4.3 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 157 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 137 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 57 reviews)); "Great Exposure and work culture." ((in 34 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 102 reviews)); "The pay is low and does not increase by much each year" ((in 82 reviews)); "Management on the corporate side is poor with very little business development experience." ((in 77 reviews)); "level and higher managers result in poor leadership and decision" ((in 52 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.

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Elsevier

Part of RELX

Elsevier reviews

4.0

79% would recommend to a friend

(2,188 total reviews)

Kumsal Bayazit

90% approve of CEO

75% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.5

Work/Life balance

4.4

Diversity & inclusion

4.3

Culture & values

3.6

Senior management

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.6

Career opportunities

Elsevier has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 2,188 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).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

1.0

Aug 21, 2018

All talk, no substance

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

For the publishing industry the pay is OK, but that is a low bar.

Cons

They only care about making money for their shareholders and the large bonuses and salaries they pay their white male senior management. They talk a lot about how they care but they are just words, their actions betray them. They do not support their staff or listen to them. They keep increasing administrative work whilst decreasing support for this work.

Elsevier Response

Thank you for taking the time to submit your review. Sorry to know that this is how you feel about a number of things. Certainly, this is not how we want any of our employees to feel. We are known to offer competitive compensation and a great benefits package covering various programs to motivate our teams and incentivize employees' performance globally. Our employees have a stake in the success of our organization, so we involve and listen to them. We are here to support you should you want to contact us directly. You can reach out to us anonymously at elseviergdrev@elsevier.com

3.0

Feb 13, 2018

Good benefits, low pay, constantly changing leadership

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits (PTO), good work/home balance, most departments allow at least one day work from home

Cons

Pay is less than other big publishers. focused on technology, slicing publishing departments Yearly lay-offs. Constantly changing leadership

3.0

Sep 25, 2017

Angry

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits Good social scene for staff Free gym

Cons

Too many silos - nothing is transparent

Elsevier Response

Thank you for your review. As a global organization, Elsevier is doing an incredible amount of work to promote collaborations and reduce silos. We will continue to do this and we hope you can join your manager and team to play your part in it.

Viewing 154 - 156 of 2,188 Reviews

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