Is Elsevier a good company to work for?

Elsevier has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 2,534 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months. 79% of employees would recommend working at Elsevier to a friend and 75% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Elsevier have been left by employees working as Software Engineer , Editor and Manager .

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 4.4 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 284 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 164 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 139 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 54 reviews)); "Customers shows lot of respect to the company good work culture" ((in 40 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 95 reviews)); "the pay is low but everything else was great" ((in 91 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 54 reviews)); "There are also bad managers and seemingly no easy way to reduce their impact on the staff for whom they are responsible." ((in 52 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.

What are the top reviewed Elsevier locations?

Philadelphia , New York , Saint Louis , Maryland Heights , San Diego , Atlanta , Gainesville , Dayton , Boston , Cambridge , Houston , Pittsburgh , Tampa , Phila , Orlando , Washington , San Francisco , Waltham , Texas City , Minneapolis , Miamisburg , Berkeley , Rockville , Miami , Salt Lake City , Chicago , Dallas , Los Angeles , North Andover , Woodbury

Elsevier reviews

4.0

79% would recommend to a friend

(2,189 total reviews)

Kumsal Bayazit

91% approve of CEO

75% positive business outlook

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 Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

4.0

Jun 20, 2021

Great benefits, awesome culture, low pay

Product manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Elsevier is a great place to work. The people are intelligent and hard working and there are a lot of great benefits like paid volunteer days, flexible work schedules, and fun company events. The work is fulfilling and the leadership is great.

Cons

Low pay (non-competitive) and frequent layoffs. Also, career growth is basically not a thing. I loved my position, but I didn't feel like I had any upward mobility.

Elsevier Response

5y

Thank you for your review. We offer a competitive reward package and a generous array of employee benefits. We regularly benchmark these against companies of the same size in various countries. Through organizational commitment, we take a combined approach to our people's growth and professional development strategies. We empower them to see RELX and our sister companies as well as Elsevier a huge job marketplace for them to explore. We also provide them with the resources and opportunities to manage their career development.

3.0

May 13, 2021

Ok company, highly depends on where you work

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits are pretty good, 401k matching, PTO, annual raises. They've also had a relatively good response to COVID-19, and have been encouraging people to work remotely for as long as possible, while also encouraging people to take mental health breaks and maintain work life balance.

Cons

Depends on where you work. The Philly office is filled with some amazing people who care about their employees and their work culture. I've heard that the culture at the companies who have been acquired by Elsevier (Pittsburgh office, North Andover office) have some major culture adjustments they need to make. The main software engineering manager in Pittsburgh is kinda sexist and racist, but nothings ever been done about it. The folks in North Andover are so old school and unwilling to update their ways, and Elsevier isn't doing much to intervene. They also claim that there are so many easy ways to change your career path (i.e. if you want to switch from software engineering to product or quality), but that's not true. They don't like having people work remotely, so if you work in one place you have to find a job being offered in that location, even though everyone is fully remote due to the pandemic, and ultimately it doesn't allow for easy transition into varying fields.

3.0

Feb 15, 2021

Nice people

Director

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Nice teams of smart people. Kumsal Bayazit was a great promotion

Cons

Senior management is a bit week; needs a refresh beneath Kumsal

Elsevier Response

5y

We appreciate your positive feedback. We are sorry that you feel this way about our senior management team who are unified in their goal of making our fast paced organisation a great place for all employees to work. They go the extra mile to care about employees' well-being, work-life balance, career development and more.

Viewing 244 - 246 of 2,189 Reviews

Jobs at Elsevier

VP, Clinical Solutions Content

Account Manager, Research Intelligence (Midwest, US)

Account Manager, Research Intelligence (Northeast, US)

Solutions Account Manager, Research Intelligence, Midwest

Business Development Representative, Nursing Health Education (Remote)

Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Great benefits, awesome culture, low pay

Ok company, highly depends on where you work

Nice people

Jobs at Elsevier

Elsevier reviews FAQs

Want the inside scoop on your own company?

Bowls

Followed companies

Job searches

Company ratings over time

Jobs at Elsevier

Elsevier reviews FAQs