Does Crain Communications pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Crain Communications employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Crain Communications. This rating has decreased by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Crain Communications?

39% of Crain Communications employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Crain Communications 3.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.5 for culture and values and 2.6 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Crain Communications?

Reporter (19) , Editor (10) , Manager (10) , Account Executive (6) , Director (5) , Marketing (5) , Editorial (4) , Intern (4) , Journalist (4) , Senior Reporter (4) , Business Analyst (3) , Editorial Intern (3) , Project Manager (3) , Sales (3) , Ad Sales Director (2)

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

"great people to work with" ((in 29 reviews)); "Good income and benefits for someone starting their career in the business world." ((in 15 reviews)); "Good work life balance." ((in 11 reviews)); "Salaries are competitive." ((in 11 reviews)); "Approachable colleagues and superiors" ((in 11 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Crain Communications according to real employee reviews?

"Dying industry and poor management" ((in 21 reviews)); "Low pay and no chance for advancement" ((in 11 reviews)); "There are way too many managers to report to so there's a weird reporting structure." ((in 9 reviews)); "Continued cuts and layoffs across the board, though faring better than a lot of other news/trade pubs" ((in 9 reviews)); "Not a lot of room for advancement." ((in 7 reviews))

What are employees saying about Crain Communications layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Crain Communications layoffs and their outlook for job security at Crain Communications in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Crain Communications locations?

Detroit , New York , Chicago , Conway , Akron , Cleveland , Grand Rapids , Houston , Cuyahoga Falls , Mountain View , Farmington Hills , United States Coast Guard - Air Station Sacramento

Crain Communications reviews

2.8

39% would recommend to a friend

(292 total reviews)

KC Crain

47% approve of CEO

39% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Crain Communications has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 292 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Crain Communications employee rating is 25% below average for employers within the Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

292 reviews

1.0

Sep 8, 2016

Behind the times, restrictive environment.

Sales representative

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

One star is for the Crain family. I believe that they are good people and that they do care however, they have no idea what goes on within each individual publication. Benefits are decent, compensation is competitive.

Cons

Very restrictive environment. Pubs are behind the times in terms of what they offer advertisers. Innovation is discouraged and often disparaged. Every man for themselves environment, collaboration is rare. There is a punitive and retaliatory culture. Very little, if any room for growth.

Crain Communications Response

9y

Thank you for your honest feedback. We are sorry to hear your experience at Crain wasn’t as positive as you’d hoped it would be. We recognize that innovation is hugely important, so to help encourage it within our offices, we launched the Crain Innovation Awards this summer. The awards encourage individual employees or groups of employees to submit their ideas about how we can grow and improve the company. The leadership team not only supports the initiative, but several of our corporate and brand leaders submitted their own ideas. The employees on each winning team are awarded with prizes and asked to build out their ideas so they can be executed and hopefully lead to positive outcomes for Crain.

1.0

Jul 31, 2015

Customer Service Rep

Customer service representative iii- consultant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I was a temp assignment and I needed the job

Cons

not a good place to work for black people

Crain Communications Response

10y

We are shocked and dismayed by your comments. Our company strives to create and foster a work environment that embraces diversity. We have an open door policy and encourage all employees to share their perceptions directly with our CHRO, Nikki Kallek, so that we may document and investigate your complaints. Your opinion has saddened us and we are sorry that you have left with this sentiment.

1.0

Mar 13, 2015

Overworked employees on a bare-bones staff

Editor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Some marquee names of pubs

Cons

Management doesn't have a clue

Viewing 22 - 24 of 292 Reviews

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