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Penguin Random House

Is this your company?

Great place to work for book lovers but don't expect good career progression - Digital Editor Penguin Random House Employee Review

4.0
28 May 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Wonderful colleagues - Good benefits - If you plan on having a family, great mat leave - Free/discounted books

Cons

- Management/heads of are very 'old school' in their way of thinking - not very 'digital first' although they claim that is the direction they want to go in (they made the digital team in the the division I was in redundant). Make it make sense. - Career progression and compensation is TERRIBLE. The one measly pay rise/promotion I got I had to fight tooth and nail for. And then I was only offered the salary I should have been on a couple of years ago when I handed in my notice. - In my old team, we all found we felt like we were shouting into the void. The wider division really seemed to struggle getting to grips with our digital channels and never seemed to listen to our advice and expertise. - The Editorial team are put on a pedestal (not saying they don't do amazing work as they do) but not enough credit was ever given to other teams like marketing, social, website, etc. - Everything is very slow moving when it comes to approvals, developments on the website, etc, which I did appreciate as it's a big company but something to bear in mind.

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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