Does EF (Education First) pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, EF (Education First) employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.9 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at EF (Education First). This rating has improved by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at EF (Education First)?

61% of EF (Education First) employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated EF (Education First) 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at EF (Education First)?

English Teacher (293) , Teacher (246) , Tour Consultant (237) , ESL Teacher (199) , Online English Teacher (199) , Sales Coordinator (136) , Sales (74) , Activity Leader (73) , Online ESL Teacher (66) , Sales Consultant (63) , Manager (61) , Educational Tour Consultant (46) , Marketing (42) , EF Activity Leader (40) , Sales Associate (40)

What are the pros of working at EF (Education First) according to real employee reviews?

"The company is great for people right out of college and that have an interest in education and travel." ((in 418 reviews)); "Overall really great culture and very easy to feel welcome!" ((in 332 reviews)); "Colleagues are great and share similar values for the most part." ((in 216 reviews)); "Great benefits and travel opportunities." ((in 168 reviews)); "The work environment can be fun and energetic." ((in 114 reviews))

What are the cons of working at EF (Education First) according to real employee reviews?

"You'll be doing a lot of work for low pay and have no life outside of EF." ((in 612 reviews)); "Employees are generally over worked and have an incredible amount of work for such a low salary." ((in 498 reviews)); "Poor management and lack of decisiveness from managers that have been stagnating in their roles for too many years." ((in 307 reviews)); "There can be long hours and you get told no on the phone quite often." ((in 153 reviews)); "Bad manager leading the country" ((in 126 reviews))

What are employees saying about EF (Education First) layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about EF (Education First) layoffs and their outlook for job security at EF (Education First) in 2026.

EF (Education First) reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(4,607 total reviews)

Edward Hult, Ph.D

61% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Diversity & inclusion

3.7

Culture & values

3.2

Work/Life balance

3.2

Career opportunities

3.1

Senior management

2.9

Compensation and benefits

EF (Education First) has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,607 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The EF (Education First) employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Educación industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

2.0

Feb 9, 2026

Made me realise I deserve better

Online english teacher

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The students allowed me to learn about the world and its people. It was a good stepping stone to apply to better comapnies.

Cons

Staff concerns and suggestions are disregarded and there's very poor work-life balance because there's no flexibility when it comes to working weekends or public holidays. Your personal life takes a knock leading to a miserable existance where you only interact with students over video. You only get time off during the week (Mon-Friday), no weekends and forget about taking time off in December. Your life will be all about EF and it's mostly rude and entitled Chinese students. No matter how rude and abusive the students are, you are to blame.

EF (Education First) Response

4mo

Thank you for your feedback. We are glad that the opportunity to teach online with EF gave you the chance to learn about different cultures. However, we are sorry to hear that not all of your experience was positive. We regularly ask our teachers for feedback and do make changes based on that. Last year we made a change in how shifts work in our Johannesburg center. This allowed teachers who prefer not to work weekends to be able to do that. Teachers also have the option to apply for a shift change if they are not happy with their current shift days. Some teachers choose to work on weekends and public holidays so that they can earn more.

4.0

Feb 9, 2026

Great people and beautiful office, but lack of transparency and flexibility

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Beautiful, centrally located office with a really thoughtful design and lots of plants, genuinely a nice place to spend your day. Great, friendly colleagues and an overall informal, approachable atmosphere. Opportunities to travel as part of the role. On-site gym and studio classes during lunch breaks, ranging from yoga to bootcamp, which is a great perk. Lovely common areas with free tea and coffee, plus a water bar with sparkling water.

Cons

Lack of transparency, particularly around company strategy and decision-making. No clear career pathway, including salary progression. Pay is below market, and there is very little transparency around compensation or growth. The organization went through multiple rounds of restructuring, which created uncertainty and a negative vibe in the office. Very limited flexibility when it comes to working from home or alternative arrangements, combined with management that feels disconnected and tone-deaf to employee needs.

EF (Education First) Response

4mo

Thank you so much for taking the time to write about your experience here! We've shared your constructive points with leadership as well in case you haven't already brought these points up with your manager.

3.0

Feb 8, 2026

Great people, bad pay

Advisor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, nice office space, good culture, great work life balance, never been asked to work while I’m on PTO

Cons

Bad pay that doesn’t reflect the expensive cities they have offices in. Policies like return to office are inconsistent with minimal explanation. If the pay / growth opps were better, I would stay forever but doesn’t feel sustainable

EF (Education First) Response

4mo

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. We’re glad to hear you value the people, culture, work-life balance, and respect for time off, those are important parts of the EF experience. We appreciate your feedback on compensation, growth opportunities, and our return-to-office approach. We review our compensation packages regularly to ensure they are benchmarked with industry standards, and feedback like yours helps inform those conversations. Thanks for bringing up our shift toward more in-office collaboration—our business is built upon bringing people together across borders and cultures, and we want our offices to reflect that. If you’d like to discuss growth, pay, or workplace policies further, we encourage you to connect with your manager, the Recruitment and Employee Development (RED) Team, or reach out to hr@ef.com.

Viewing 64 - 66 of 4,607 Reviews

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Jobs at EF (Education First)

Sales Development Summer Intern

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