A good place to learn - Communications Elsevier Employee Review

3.0
23 Feb 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people are friendly and international, the benefits are OK, and work/life balance norms are relaxed. There were many opportunities to travel and the T&E allowances were generous. Job stability is generally good, and especially improving for females. It's a market leader, so everyone in the industry will recognize and respect the name. Overall, it's a good place to learn.

Cons

It's a huge international company, with all the institutional sclerosis that implies. IT and HR are mostly outsourced and difficult to interact with. Many of the internal systems are antiquated, adding a little friction to your day-to-day. The center of gravity is in London and Amsterdam, so despite their claims of being remote-friendly, the people in the office do have career advantages. The people you'll work with tend to be Dutch or German, which encourages a very traditional and process-oriented way of working. Initiative is only appreciated if it's a specific kind of initiative that doesn't require anyone to "color outside the lines" or take risks. Pay is just average & thus is the talent they attract, except for that acquired via acquisition. Being a market leader in a company that serves academia, it attracts controversy and has historically struggled to manage these well, so you may take a reputation hit among your academic friends.

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Elsevier Response
5y
Thank you for your review. We have over 8,600 employees in 180 countries. Our business operate anywhere our customers are. Our people are diverse and they represent us irrespective of where they are located. Through organizational commitment, globally, we all take a combined approach to our people's growth and professional development strategies. We offer a competitive reward package and a generous array of employee benefits. We regularly benchmark these against companies of the same size as us. We have managed remote working well as organisation as we believe in flexible working. As you have worked for us for about ten years now, it's important that we hear more about the issues raised so that we can continuously learn and improve. If you wish, send us an email - elseviergdrev@elsevier.com

Explore other reviews about Elsevier

5.0
11 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Industry leader Great benefits Incentive trips Invests heavily in its employees

Cons

Processes can be burdensome and clunky at times

avatar
Elsevier Response
1mo
Thank you for this balanced and thoughtful review. We're glad to hear that our benefits and investment in people are making a positive impact, those are commitments we take seriously. On the process feedback: Leadership is actively reviewing operational workflows, and the advice to listen more closely to employee feedback is something we're holding ourselves accountable to. If you're open to it, we'd encourage you to bring specific examples forward through your team or people and culture contacts. Change is most effective when it's grounded in the real experiences of the people doing the work, and that means you. Feel free to reach out to us at elseviergdrev@elsevier.com to provide more information Thank you for staying engaged and for caring enough to share this. It matters.
4.0
20 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Great company -Team has talented, experienced account managers and product experts who know the territory well

Cons

West team management is heavy on micromanagement and sets unrealistic territory targets without rep input — high turnover, and long tenure in company seems to shield this manager from accountability and growth

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