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 29 reviews)); "The coworkers were the best part of the job." ((in 11 reviews)); "Great culture and creative teams." ((in 7 reviews)); "Beautiful office" ((in 6 reviews)); "Very healthy work environment, I have yet to encounter nastiness, back stabbing, aggression" ((in 5 reviews))

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

"No work/life balance and no appreciation provided for hard work put in." ((in 12 reviews)); "low pay not in line with the industry or people's experience" ((in 11 reviews)); "Upper management is ignorant of the fact that employees have no work" ((in 8 reviews)); "Which leaves less capable managers in the middle level therefore further negatively affecting non" ((in 7 reviews)); "Hours are long and personnel is under appreciated." ((in 7 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

3.0

Dec 31, 2013

Lots of back patting, no employee investment

Editorial

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Amazingly free environment, creativity in bounds, and fun social perks. Really great internal community and lots going on. Generally, your supervisor directly above you cares a lot about your personal growth.

Cons

The vision of Refinery29 is a "throw something at the wall until it sticks" mentality, which means they talk a lot about a "vision" but the practice is whatever is working that day. Expect high school-level back dealing, and employees to "disappear" without notice or warning or a peep from upper management. Also, a yearly raise is kind of a joke.

3.0

Dec 4, 2013

R29 is a place where you need to fight for what you want your role to be

Designer

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

Positive work environment, super non-corporate, creative and open-minded coworkers. Opportunity to pitch ideas, small and large, and see them executed.

Cons

Retains the disastrous structure of its start-up origins. The current HR staff is seriously lacking. There is a real need for senior level staff members as average age of current staff hovers around 30.

4.0

Dec 1, 2013

A hyper growth company with high expectations

Director of technical operations

Recommend

Business Outlook

Pros

A profitable startup, with an amazingly fun team. Most everyone here loves the brand, the mission and the opportunities for growth are amazing. Right now (Winter 2013) this is a rocket ship in terms of headcount (60%), traffic (100%) and revenue (100%) growth year over year. There are many fashion content/digital fashion companies in NYC, this is the only one I've encountered with a sustainable business model and the right people to make it happen.

Cons

Occasionally, it feels like you're spinning your wheels on a project that is going nowhere. R29 suffers from going in too many directions at once, and not applying the necessary resources for major undertakings. It's entirely possible for you to end up on a project without a future, and this can be frustrating.

Viewing 187 - 189 of 191 Reviews

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