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?

"Some great people" ((in 34 reviews)); "The coworkers were the best part of the job." ((in 11 reviews)); "Great culture and environment to work in." ((in 8 reviews)); "free stuff, nice office, casual work environment" ((in 5 reviews)); "Beautiful office" ((in 5 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 9 reviews)); "Which leaves less capable managers in the middle level therefore further negatively affecting non" ((in 8 reviews)); "Upper management is ignorant of the fact that employees have no work" ((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

Jan 29, 2015

I love this place but I'm one of the lucky ones

Senior editor

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

A lot of fun, wonderful people who will become lifelong friends, an awesome brand with a lot of creative talent. some high-school style favoritism...if the bosses don't like you personally, you can do great work and never get noticed.

Cons

too much process, too much work but not enough freedom, (sometimes) below market standard pay. people with creative ability get promoted into management even though they don't have those skills and then things get messy.

4.0

Dec 26, 2014

A Wonderful Professional Growth Experience With Some Bumps Along The Road

Anonymous employee

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Refinery29 is on a great growth path and it can be a fun and wild ride. When I moved on from R29, people are genuinely excited to hear about the growth story. From a personal branding perspective, that has been helpful.

Cons

Loyalty to employees is not valued here. You will be replaced (responsibilities given to someone else), hired over, etc. with no clear delineations about how, when, or what happened (or, how you could have "fixed" things). It has happened to everyone and, I mean, everyone. The office "perks" are a joke - sugar cereal masquerading as "healthy." And, coffee from a Keurig. Don't count on them to keep the midnight oil burning.

3.0

Dec 22, 2014

Very neutral

Anonymous employee

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Some of the people, but not all of them

Cons

Fine I guess - low pay

Viewing 172 - 174 of 191 Reviews

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