Does Refinery29 pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Refinery29 employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Refinery29. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Refinery29?

40% of Refinery29 employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Refinery29 2.9 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.2 for culture and values and 2.5 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Refinery29?

Intern (9) , Software Engineer (6) , Internship (5) , Writer (5) , Editor (4) , Graphic Designer (4) , Intern - Hourly (4) , Production Assistant (4) , Editorial (3) , Producer (3) , Account Executive (2) , Account Manager (2) , Art Director (2) , Content Writer (2) , Creative Department (2)

What are the pros of working at Refinery29 according to real employee reviews?

"The people are creative and young" ((in 29 reviews)); "The coworkers were the best part of the job." ((in 11 reviews)); "Beautiful office" ((in 6 reviews)); "Office culture is amazing." ((in 6 reviews)); "Very healthy work environment, I have yet to encounter nastiness, back stabbing, aggression" ((in 4 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Refinery29 according to real employee reviews?

"NO work life balance; unsustainable and will burn you out." ((in 12 reviews)); "low pay not in line with the industry or people's experience" ((in 10 reviews)); "Upper management is ignorant of the fact that employees have no work" ((in 9 reviews)); "Which leaves less capable managers in the middle level therefore further negatively affecting non" ((in 8 reviews)); "Hours are long and personnel is under appreciated." ((in 6 reviews))

What are employees saying about Refinery29 layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Refinery29 layoffs and their outlook for job security at Refinery29 in 2026.

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Refinery29

Refinery29 reviews

3.1

40% would recommend to a friend

(191 total reviews)

Philippe von Borries

35% approve of CEO

18% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.4

Diversity & inclusion

3.2

Culture & values

2.9

Work/Life balance

2.7

Senior management

2.6

Compensation and benefits

2.5

Career opportunities

Refinery29 has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 191 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Refinery29 employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Mídia e comunicação industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

191 reviews

4.0

Jul 28, 2016

Fun fast paced environment

Video production

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone is extremely friendly and willing to explain everything to you and help you learn. Refinery29 has special speakers for their Interns so that interns can better understand the industry from professionals and supervisors within the company.

Cons

I have nothing bad to say about Refinery29

1.0

Jul 22, 2016

Worst experience of my career

Anonymous

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

- Some great people - Forward thinking

Cons

- Overall, it's a high school popularity contest - The most incompetent managers are hired. My manager was probably hired because she knew "the lingo" and the founders thought she was legit. - The majority of the managers lead by intimidation - Some of the people that are promoted into management positions are unqualified and inexperienced. I'm sure if these new managers were to leave R29, they'd be knocked back into their jr level roles. - Benefits are "meh" and not much time off. - Pay is not equal across the board - some people were breaking their backs making peanuts while others are grossly overpaid to just "hang out and talk the talk".

4.0

Jul 7, 2016

More pros than cons

Anonymous employee

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of room for growth fun "youthful" environment employees are treated with respect, you are listened to when you make suggestions

Cons

people aren't held accountable or corrected when they fail at their job duties inexperienced employees, which can create more work for experienced employees some departments can be unorganized conflicting messages in strategy communicating across departments is difficult / nonexistent

Viewing 142 - 144 of 191 Reviews

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