Pearson Education Reviews

I worked at Pearson Education

Pros – Pearson Educaton has a great way of motivating all sales and marketing employees. They hold fantastic sales meetings in gorgeous locales.. They also have great benefits, fantastic pension plan (4.5% of pay is put into an account plus they match what you put in). Their senior managers are very strong and listen to all employees. No egos there. There is also not a lot a lot of bureaucracy. This company is a true meritocracy.

Cons – The pay is low for the amount of hours required to do a successful job. That being said, there are a lot of intrinsic rewards offered such as praise, awards, team work that go with working there.

Advice to Senior Management – Get off the profit sharing plan. It is too confusing to be motivating and many mid level managers do not have that much say over profit levels.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Pearson Education full-time

Pros – Wonderful staff to work with (non-management)
Great benefits and work/life balance
Casual dress and work environment
On-site cafe
Discounts on movie and event tickets

Cons – No job security
No room for advancement
No clear reporting structure, evaluations are useless
Zero direction from management
Layoffs are common

Advice to Senior Management – Better manage your staff and train the staff you have properly while making them better aware of expectations.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Most people are very nice to work with. Benefits are good. Hours are good and vacation time is decent. Pretty flexible for most positions if you need to deal with family things etc.

Cons – Pearson is a publishing company, used to making print books. They are trying to transition to digital products and services, but are having a hard time. They are currently cutting headcount overall and trying to figure out new business models.

Advice to Senior Management – Increase salaries in order to attract the most qualified people. If you want to build the best products and services, you need to hire the best people. Communicate a clear business plan.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – I've been with Pearson for over ten years and continue to look forward to many great years. Salary could be slightly improved to match current market. However, great people and great working environment are a huge plus.

Cons – Certain time-to-market based products can be overwhelming and requires everyone to pitch in as needed. However, the end results are great products for all age groups.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Pearson Education

Pros – Work from home sometimes, travel but mostly no overnights, great place to start a career.

Cons – Competitive, difficult market in transition

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time

Pros – Great people, benefits, company mission. It's fun being part of a company that helps people improve their lives. New CEO John Fallen is great. Very international company so you might travel a bit. When Pearson does something, it tries to be great.

Cons – Slow to change, slow to seize opportunities. Pay is average and career progression is bad. There are too many senior managers without the skills to take us into the future holding onto their seats. Many departments work in silos. Products are average to good. Not cutting edge.

Advice to Senior Management – Bring in leaders with digital skills and backgrounds. Make faster decisions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Commitment to high quality digital educational materials. Flexible hours. Well set-up for working from home. Very smart coworkers. Friendly. Supportive.

Cons – Advancement path is not always clear. Space is limited, and changing to more open space with minimum amount of privacy. Company is rapidly changing to digital: a pro because it is the future of education and publishing, a con if change makes you nervous.

Advice to Senior Management – Need clear advancement paths for digital developers. Could use some change management procedures.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time for more than a year

Pros – - Opportunities for a career...if you are interested in sales or don't care about significant salary advancement.
- Generally lax and low stress work environment, depending on your position and department. Mine has not been.
- Great benefits.

Cons – - The salary is pathetic - it is not competitive at all and it is not negotiable. This is frustrating, especially given the amount of responsibility that you can end up with (for example, my department started with 3 assistants. Two of them left but were never replaced so now I'm doing the work of all 3 but am actually making less than what I was making when I started due to the 2013 tax increases).

- No real job description - when I interviewed for and received the position, there was a clear job description outlining the position and what is expected of you. However, soon after starting, that was totally thrown out the window. I have actually been told be a superior that "your job is to do whatever I tell you to do". Usually not irregular or even something worth complaining about but given the low salary, lack of opportunities for advancement and the absence of overtime, it can become extremely frustrating and make you feel like a glorified intern.

- State of the company does not bode well for career opportunities - when I first started here, everyone made it seem like this was a career job, one that would lead to great opportunities within the company and ensure that I would be with Pearson for a very long time. But things have changed. The amount of open and available positions have decreased significantly and the CEO started talking layoffs at the latest state of the company meeting. Unless I decide to become a sales rep and move to the middle of nowhere, I'm practically stuck. Either that or I can hope for a semi-lateral move to another department that would increase my salary by a whole 2k a year. All the while, the higher ups are having meetings at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, or having corporate retreats in Bermuda. Not to mention those two assistant positions they never filled (why hire two new people when you can sucker one assistant to do the job of 3 for the price one 1?). Something doesn't add up.

Advice to Senior Management – A COMPETITIVE SALARY IS A MUST! Given how expensive the cost of living is in this area and how taxing the commute can be to get up here (I currently drive 42 miles each way every day), there is no reason why the salary is barely 30k. Sadly, it seems like the company is taking advantage of the down economy, sticking to the attitude that "well, you're lucky to even HAVE a job".

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good benefits
Good time off, when you can take it

Cons – Completely lacking leadership and mentors
Communication is chaotic
No defined roles for some groups and positions
Salary is weak, bonuses are pitiful - less that cost of living
unsure of future
Reorganizations every 3 mos

Advice to Senior Management – Decide what to be and go be it. Stop changing for the sake of investors. Change is good when you have direction. Change is bad when you're grasping at straws and have no plan.

Reward your good workers! No, a reward is not the ability to keep your job.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Pearson Education full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great people to work with. Opportunity to travel - if you have regional or global role.

Cons – Very, very poor inter-company cooperation and communications. Politics is a killer - everyone is out for their little corner and will back stab, cheat and lie to get their way. Leadership is in chaos and so front line troops suffer from poorly planned and/or communicated strategies.

Advice to Senior Management – Correct internal issues before making more acquisitions. Fix legal department - they are a bottleneck! Teach your team in US that there is a whole world outside their boarders - for international business, support out of US stinks!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend