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?

78% 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) , Software Engineer III (20) , Marketing (18) , Data Scientist (16)

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

"Flexibility and good work/life balance" ((in 291 reviews)); "You get the chance to work with great people that are very driven and know their subject area very well." ((in 159 reviews)); "Great employees and colleagues" ((in 135 reviews)); "Great company and team to work for." ((in 57 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 90 reviews)); "The pay is low and does not increase by much each year" ((in 85 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 58 reviews)); "Bad managers aren't re" ((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?

Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , São Lourenço

Elsevier reviews

4.0

78% would recommend to a friend

(2,191 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 2,191 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 Mídia e comunicação industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

3.0

Oct 21, 2025

Recent re-orgs, layoffs, and out-of-touch management are dragging my department down

Acquisition editor

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Great work-life balance, great people, interesting work. Excellent Publishers and Publishing Directors.

Cons

The job is made harder by a bad software system that frustrates and disappoints both authors and employees, but Elsevier has invested so much into it that they keep pushing forward with a bad system. Recently an entire department was laid off and replaced with a new team in India. They have been taking longer than anticipated to get up and running, which has been a huge pain point in our workflows. Upper management is always willing to listen to our input and feedback, but never actually implements it. Answers to tough questions, like those surrounding compensation and layoffs, are always cookie cutter and a lot of talking around the question without leveling with employees.

Elsevier Response

8mo

Thanks for leaving your review. We take it seriously. With the business world changing constantly and so rapidly, virtually every established business feels the imperative to continuously improve and innovate. For this reason, executives, managers, and employees across our business work hard to figure out how to best and strategically address the genuine needs of our customers and partners globally.

4.0

Nov 24, 2024

Good work life balance

Senior systems engineer

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Friendly company with good work life balance

Cons

Pay isn’t very competitive can be higher.

5.0

Nov 9, 2024

Prestigious company with smart colleagues

Senior publisher

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Great pay and opportunities for advancement

Cons

Many policies are imposed from senior management without consulting with the working publishers

Viewing 388 - 390 of 2,191 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

The Business Year

3.5★Compensation & Benefits

Jobs at Elsevier

Academic Success Manager

Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro

View job

Academic Success Manager

São Paulo, São Paulo

View job

Elsevier

Elsevier reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Recent re-orgs, layoffs, and out-of-touch management are dragging my department down

Good work life balance

Prestigious company with smart colleagues

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Jobs at Elsevier