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 288 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 143 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 55 reviews)); "Customers shows lot of respect to the company good work culture" ((in 33 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 93 reviews)); "The pay is low and does not increase by much each year" ((in 90 reviews)); "Management on the corporate side is poor with very little business development experience." ((in 82 reviews)); "level and higher managers result in poor leadership and decision" ((in 56 reviews)); "There are also bad managers and seemingly no easy way to reduce their impact on the staff for whom they are responsible." ((in 53 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

Ratings by category

4.5

Work/Life balance

4.4

Diversity & inclusion

4.2

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 2,189 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).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

1.0

Feb 5, 2020

Waterfall micromanaged company with old school technology

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

If you like to work in slow moving waterfall companies as individual contributor then it might work out for you.

Cons

Benefits: 3 weeks total for sick and vacation time for less than 3 years of service Work from home only after management approval Medical and Dental: expensive with high deductible plans. No 401k match for the first year of service. No ESPP 10-12 public holidays Office management: poor Cleaning guy with vacuum comes in during day time You have to take care of your trash bin There is no food, or snacks. You can get coffee, tea or filtered water but there are no even plastic utensils. You have to bring your own. Unisex bathrooms

Elsevier Response

6y

Thank you for this review. Sorry if you feel your experience with us was disappointing before you left. Our tech employees, as well as the leadership team in Tech globally, are unified in their efforts to continue to build a great work environment that is supportive and nurturing. It's regrettable that you could not partake in this by discussing the issues you raised before you left our organization. We don't think it's too late as we have shared your review with them. If identifying ways to still contribute to these efforts, please contact us at elseviergdrev@elsevier.com

2.0

Jan 31, 2020

Cultural & Leadership Changes Required

Engineering leader

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

* Very smart and interesting people to work with * Strong talent pipeline from universities * Progressive policies, strong female representation * New CEO has a ton of potential * Well known brand

Cons

* Engineering leadership underwhelms and underperforms, engineering teams struggle * Product organization and leadership is astonishingly ineffective and toxic * Ivory towers add friction and minimal practical value * Benefits are subpar

Elsevier Response

6y

Thank you for your review. We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience of when you worked at Elsevier. Regarding the cons listed in your review, frankly, this is not the kind of employee experience that we want any of our former employees to have. We take your feedback seriously and our tech leadership teams are investigating and discussing how to improve things further should we find that the points raised here resonate with our current employees in the same role. We are glad that all our leadership teams in tech are committed and unified in striving to create a superior workplace culture where employees feel empowered and well-rewarded to do challenging and fulfilling work. Recognising the value of a happy and healthy workforce, we offer competitive benefits.

3.0

Nov 2, 2019

Good coworkers, bad corporate managment

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

35 hour workweek. Competitive pay for someone starting their career in tech.

Cons

Recent cuts to PTO, cuts to 401k matching, and increases in healthcare costs made a lot of long term employees VERY upset. Leadership is not transparent.

Viewing 241 - 243 of 2,189 Reviews

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Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Waterfall micromanaged company with old school technology

Cultural & Leadership Changes Required

Good coworkers, bad corporate managment

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