Is EF (Education First) a good company to work for?

EF (Education First) has an overall rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 6,456 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months. 61% of employees would recommend working at EF (Education First) to a friend and 47% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about EF (Education First) have been left by employees working as Sales Manager , Director and Intern .

Does EF (Education First) pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, EF (Education First) employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.9 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at EF (Education First). This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at EF (Education First)?

61% of EF (Education First) employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated EF (Education First) 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at EF (Education First)?

English Teacher (293) , Teacher (246) , Tour Consultant (238) , ESL Teacher (199) , Online English Teacher (199) , Sales Coordinator (137) , Sales (74) , Activity Leader (73) , Online ESL Teacher (67) , Sales Consultant (63) , Manager (61) , Educational Tour Consultant (46) , Marketing (42) , EF Activity Leader (40) , Sales Associate (40)

What are the pros of working at EF (Education First) according to real employee reviews?

"The company is great for people right out of college and that have an interest in education and travel." ((in 413 reviews)); "Overall really great culture and very easy to feel welcome!" ((in 332 reviews)); "Colleagues are great and share similar values for the most part." ((in 211 reviews)); "Great benefits and travel opportunities." ((in 163 reviews)); "Fun work environment and coworkers." ((in 113 reviews))

What are the cons of working at EF (Education First) according to real employee reviews?

"You'll be doing a lot of work for low pay and have no life outside of EF." ((in 601 reviews)); "Employees are generally over worked and have an incredible amount of work for such a low salary." ((in 509 reviews)); "Poor management and lack of decisiveness from managers that have been stagnating in their roles for too many years." ((in 321 reviews)); "There can be long hours and you get told no on the phone quite often." ((in 159 reviews)); "Bad manager leading the country" ((in 123 reviews))

What are employees saying about EF (Education First) layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about EF (Education First) layoffs and their outlook for job security at EF (Education First) in 2026.

What are the top reviewed EF (Education First) locations?

Boston , Cambridge , Denver , Tarrytown , San Diego , Austin , New York , San Francisco , Thornwood , Santa Barbara , Miami , Chicago , Miami Beach , Brighton , Los Angeles , Washington , Honolulu , Atlanta , China , Redondo Beach , Remote , Long Beach , Pasadena , Monterey , China Grove , Dallas , Houston , Seattle , Portland , Baltimore

EF (Education First) reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(4,610 total reviews)

Edward Hult, Ph.D

61% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

EF (Education First) has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,610 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The EF (Education First) employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

4.0

Jan 5, 2026

Great people, great mission

Senior software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The people that work here are amazing. Good work/life balance and amazing opportunities to travel. If you land on a good team, interesting work

Cons

Pay is below market. Feels like it's lost some of it's previous charm and focus on people. Directives get passed in from above. Each team is ran as it's own silo, so hope you get onto a good one

EF (Education First) Response

5mo

Hi, thank you for taking the time to leave a review. It's so great to hear you found value in the team, work/life balance, and travel opportunities during your time working here. We review our compensation structures annually to align with industry standards, so feedback like yours helps. If you have any more specifics to share about some of your other comments about people focus, internal communication or team dynamics, we would love to learn more at hr@ef.com. Thank you again for sharing!

4.0

Jan 4, 2026

Tour Consultant

Tour consultant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Fun to talk to people that want to travel

Cons

Hard when the economy is down

EF (Education First) Response

5mo

Thank you for sharing your experience as a Tour Consultant in Boston! We're glad to hear you enjoy connecting with current and prospective travelers and appreciate the energy you bring to the team.

3.0

Jan 4, 2026

Great company, falls short on pay.

Account manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great work environment, coworkers, management, benefits, company events, 401k match, the whole shebang. The company does so much well, but where it falls short is not insignificant. So many people stay for several years, but there is a lot of turnover before the 5 year mark (when you're vested in your 401k fully).

Cons

Internally the company changes job duties frequently. The job I was originally hired to do and the job I have now share the same title, and are officially the same role, though while still having overlap, my duties have changed significantly. This has happened frequently across multiple departments. The biggest drawback is pay- this job keeps people through the atmosphere, coworkers, and benefits, but the number one reason for turnover is pay- it will never pay you enough unless you attain a much higher role within the company or work in the engineering department.

EF (Education First) Response

4mo

Appreciate you for taking the time to share such a thoughtful perspective. We’re glad to hear you value the work environment, benefits, and the people around you—creating a vibrant culture where colleagues feel connected and supported is something we care deeply about at EF. We appreciate your feedback on evolving roles and career progression. At EF, growth doesn’t always follow a traditional corporate ladder. Many colleagues build experience through lateral moves that broaden skills and impact across the organization. We call this 'the spiral staircase'. Supporting limitless potential means offering different paths to grow. We know clarity around those paths is important. Thank you for your feedback here. We also appreciate your perspective on compensation. We review our compensation packages regularly to ensure they are benchmarked with industry standards, and feedback like yours helps inform those ongoing conversations as we work to support sustainable careers and real impact at EF.

Viewing 97 - 99 of 4,610 Reviews

Jobs at EF (Education First)

ESL Teacher - Summer 2026

Activity Leader-Summer

Summer Activity Leader

Tour Consultant, Group Sales