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Penguin Random House

Is this your company?

Pay isn't discussed and work/life balance and culture varies from division to division. Hard to feel Valued. - Change Analyst Penguin Random House Employee Review

3.0
17 June 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits. Fun industry. Free books. Opportunities to get involved with charity or creative projects are always available. Industry strives for change and fairness including diversity - focus on not remaining as a white, middle class company.

Cons

Low pay, little reward for devoted service. Huge disparity between pay brackets of people doing identical jobs/same job title. Some divisions are too focused on profit and not enough on rewarding staff for hard work.

Explore other reviews about Penguin Random House

5.0
20 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

• Caring people. Psychological safety is emphasized by people at every level. I feel like leadership at each step of the reporting chain is very approachable and transparent. • Great work/life balance. • There is a lot of openness to trying new technologies or doing different things for such a large and established organization. There is very little "trend chasing," it's more like you're listened to. As the CEO started out as a technologist, he has a realistic view of what new tools (including, but not just, AI) can do for us. • Informal, especially for a company created by the merger of two nearly-100 year old publishing firms and was recently acquired by a nearly-200 year old company. • Company supports learning and development. • Free books! • I care greatly about the company's mission and it's clear how my work impacts the company's ability to execute on it. • Things often move slowly, which is both a pro and a con.

Cons

• Pay and insurance are very average, but I can live with that. This is a much bigger con for employees whose jobs require them to be on-site, especially in e.g. London and New York. • Said learning and development seem to have a ...deliberate pace. While this is fine and what I wanted, other tech people coming in from more "tech-y" organizations mightn't gel with it. • Things often move slowly, which is both a pro and a con.

5.0
20 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great writing, Top tier production

Cons

The male director never asked me once how I was doing or offer any advice to calm my nerves (on my first production ever with them) which lead to a burdensome recording process.

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