Good values only on paper, cost-cutting culture, outdated management style - Manager Elsevier Employee Review

2.0
13 May 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good products, very interesting tasks and topics, remote work possible, diverse international colleagues

Cons

Frequent reorganizations, dismissals, and early retirements. Even high-ranking employees or excellent people are made redundant. This appears to be a strategy to reduce headcount and save costs, as too few people leave voluntarily. Management decisions lack transparency and fairness. Promotions are rarely based on competence or performance — internal politics, favoritism, and cliques dominate career development. Highly qualified employees are held back by insecure managers who perceive them as a threat to their own position, rather than enabling their growth. Discrimination against women occurs, and there is a noticeable lack of concrete measures. Psychological safety is widely advertised but not practiced in day-to-day management. Agility is promoted in internal messaging but rarely practiced in reality. The company culture feels outdated, with very strong hierarchies instead of flat structures, and very limited communication between top management and operational teams.

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

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Elsevier Response
1w
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.
3.0
10 Feb 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent benefits, reasonable job security and mobility

Cons

Management is a mess. They are constantly shuffling around leadership and department/reporting structures, and it has serious ramifications on morale and cross-function collaboration. I was a part of a well oiled machine for many years until Elsevier acquired our product and pretty much ruined everything that was great about within 5 years. Their priorities have not aligned with customer needs, and it became increasingly difficult to provide value to our customers. Elsevier provides more roadblocks than solutions from a product management perspective.

10
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