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Penguin Random House

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Watch Out for Some Imprints - Marketing & PR Penguin Random House Employee Review

2.0
13 Oct 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Not all imprints/departments are horrible - just a few bitter Bettys who are incompetent, rude, and will blame their assistants. I had great experiences with 4 out of the 5 imprints I worked for! Finding amazing mentorship from VPs & Directors. It's the pretentious publicists who mask their lame insecurities by being rude and royally passive aggressive.

Cons

Worked for amazing teams within PRH but unfortunately found myself in a role working for a belittling monster who was hypocritical, toxic, and passive aggressive. Her insecurities made my day-to-day beyond stressful. She micromanaged every task, questioned my intelligence. Of course when I went to HR, they protected their own and basically said there was nothing they could do. So I quit. It's one small imprint that is toxic from the top down, which explains why all their assistants end up quitting.

Explore other reviews about Penguin Random House

5.0
20 Jun 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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