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) , Software Engineer III (19) , Marketing (18) , Data Scientist (16)

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

"Flexibility and good work/life balance" ((in 293 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 161 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 140 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 59 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 92 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 78 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 54 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

(2,190 total reviews)

Kumsal Bayazit

91% approve of CEO

76% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (2,190 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 2,190 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

Jan 29, 2017

S&T Sales

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

An established company. Also, continuing to have the pleasure to work with colleagues from 'the old days,' from companies acquired by Elsevier. 401K plan is decent.

Cons

After enough time, you will feel--rightly so--concerned of an imminent lay off, and if it doesn't happen to you, it will happen to colleagues near and far. Favorites of management are promoted over those who can bring education, experience, and skills to a role. Health insurance is terrible. Elsevier is always moaning about costs and how wonderful their benefits are, even though you have to pay more for less coverage each year. Bonuses pale in comparison to other publishers, esp. in the private sector.

2.0

Jan 26, 2017

Great People - Terrible Everything Else

Developmental editor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The main pro is, hands down, the people. Ask anyone currently working at Elsevier and they'll tell you that the only reason they are staying with the company is because of the people they work with. Aside from the people, I would say that a big pro for me is getting to work in traditional publishing. As a lover of literature, getting to work with book development is a dream come true. However, traditional publishing is dying and there are CONSTANT layoffs to reflect how poorly the business is doing.

Cons

Constant layoffs and restructuring due to lack of sales. People aren't buying books anymore; they are doing e-versions of everything. The pay is terrible for the amount of work that people are required to do. Employees have no faith or admiration for the higher ups. We see them spending company money like it's nothing, and then firing dozens of people at a time because we don't have enough money to pay them.

4.0

Jan 24, 2017

Great culture but lack of mobility and compensation

Marketing coordinator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I had some of the best work experiences while working for Elsevier. We had a great team and I met some of my best friends while there. The company culture is just phenomenal, unlike anything I've experienced since. It's fast-paced and I learned a lot.

Cons

Compensation was just plain awful. Management was on the micro-managing side.

Viewing 1756 - 1758 of 2,190 Reviews

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Jobs at Elsevier

Content Strategist

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Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

S&T Sales

Great People - Terrible Everything Else

Great culture but lack of mobility and compensation

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