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Penguin Random House

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Penguin Random House reviews

3.9

75% would recommend to a friend

(1,188 total reviews)
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Nihar Malaviya

87% approve of CEO

73% positive business outlook

Penguin Random House has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 1,188 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Penguin Random House 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

1K reviews
1.0
Apr 6, 2018

Editorial Director

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some talented people and the chance to work on great books

Cons

The UK CEO talks the talk but does NOT walk the walk. He has an oft-repeated shtick about PRH being the home of diversity, but it continues to be a middle class, white ivory tower. The recent gender pay gap figures were manipulated to disguise the fact that the senior men earn more than the senior women (including the publishing MDs) and their recent diversity questionnaire had to be delayed to ensure that the facilities team were included as they are the only team that is primarily non-white. Tom Weldon says he is 'sick' that there are more working class authors, and yet he has allowed a putsch against anyone senior that does not fall into his mould of privileged, privately educated and skinny. There is so much promise in the organisation and yet it remains a bullying, status-driven, ego-led place. There are pockets of nice teams but there is little genuine warmth. Until the leadership team changes, this will continue to be a place which is less than the sum of its parts.

3.0
Feb 28, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Office culture is generally friendly and people are eager to help. The benefits are good. Perks include free books and a large number of vacation days. Company discounts at museums and in-house exercise classes, gym, and wellness benefits are nice. PRH also offers a number of professional development opportunities and some mentorship programs.

Cons

In editorial specifically, it is very difficult to achieve recognition and/or promotion through hard work. Moving from editorial assistant to editor is likely to take 5-6 years or more in some departments, and as a result there is a lot of turnover. There is an expectation that editors and assistants will work constantly without overtime, check email while out of the office, and avoid taking time off. As the company is slow to recognize achievements and promote talent, so it is slow to change on the whole. The publishing industry is in desperate need of innovation, and yet publishers are afraid to experiment. There is a culture of fear around risk. Management tends to miss the forest for the trees.

1.0
Jul 20, 2023

Abusive Management

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Half days on summer weekends - Working on new releases for big authors - Insurance - Some creative writing needed - Female staff majority

Cons

- No training benchmarks or transparency - Micromanaging and bullying - No accountability, little professionalism - Not paid enough to afford living in any city let alone large metropolitan area - Other senior managers/employees given direct credit for work I had done

Viewing 13 - 15 of 1,188 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,550 Penguin Random House reviews submitted anonymously by Penguin Random House employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Penguin Random House is right for you.