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 279 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 168 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 146 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 56 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 94 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 53 reviews)); "There are also bad managers and seemingly no easy way to reduce their impact on the staff for whom they are responsible." ((in 51 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

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

Oct 30, 2015

slow moving

Strategy professional

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- good learning experience for me - fun team

Cons

- slow moving - sales team very resistant to change - poor benefits

2.0

Oct 28, 2015

Brain drain company - Exodus of Millennials

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- The Flexible hours and work life balance are ok - no one really cares if you show up for work if you get enough done to be noticed that you are doing your job. - Good career starter for fresh out of college kids - just make sure you get out on time and move on to a more appreciative and innovative company.

Cons

- No career advancement for young talents and low retention rate - Millennials generally leave after 2-3 years due to the fact that their potential promotion positions always get fulfilled from outside hires. - Highly political environment where sr. managers rather cover their butts to keep their high paying steady jobs than actually executing changes that are logical and for the better. - Excessive amount of sr. management staff in comparison to core workforce - seems like everyone is a director or VP of something with overlapping 'responsibilities'. - Salary discrimination between local hires and 'expats' for same responsibilities. Expats are perceived to be worth more money apparently. (Amsterdam office) - HR's job is to save money for the company not helping employees - general excuse is that Elsevier is paying "market value". They must be right as people generally dont stick around that long - with the exception of aforementioned sr. mgrs. - Mediocre / incompetent employees do not get fired and always manage to slip through the cracks. - Personal Development structure is a joke.

3.0

Oct 25, 2015

Review

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits, work-life balance, flex time

Cons

Pay, lack of growth opportunities

Viewing 1882 - 1884 of 2,189 Reviews

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Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

slow moving

Brain drain company - Exodus of Millennials

Review

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