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 been stable over the past 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 (238) , ESL Teacher (199) , Online English Teacher (199) , Sales Coordinator (137) , Sales (74) , Activity Leader (73) , Online ESL Teacher (67) , 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 427 reviews)); "Overall really great culture and very easy to feel welcome!" ((in 314 reviews)); "Colleagues are great and share similar values for the most part." ((in 222 reviews)); "Great benefits and travel opportunities." ((in 172 reviews)); "The team has been great and so open to teaching you everything you need to know and more." ((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 613 reviews)); "Employees are generally over worked and have an incredible amount of work for such a low salary." ((in 510 reviews)); "Poor management and lack of decisiveness from managers that have been stagnating in their roles for too many years." ((in 317 reviews)); "There can be long hours and you get told no on the phone quite often." ((in 159 reviews)); "Bad manager leading the country" ((in 121 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

(4,611 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 4,611 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

3.0

Sep 30, 2025

Review

Finance analyst

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- People are fantastic, super social and welcoming

Cons

- Pay is mediocere at best

EF (Education First) Response

8mo

Hi, thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We're so glad to hear you enjoyed the community at the Zürich office, and that you felt welcomed. Regarding salary, we review our compensation structures annually to make sure to align with industry standards, so feedback like yours helps. Thanks again for sharing!

5.0

Sep 29, 2025

good

Tour consultant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

culture, hours, nice office space, good people

Cons

management, cost of living in city

EF (Education First) Response

8mo

We’re so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the culture, people, and work environment at EF! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback as a Tour Consultant.

2.0

Sep 26, 2025

Cons more than pros

Teacher

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Diversity. Students and staff are from all around the world, lots of things to learn from them.

Cons

- Amount of work doesn't doesn't match the low pay - Marking, lesson prep, breaks are unpaid. You literally only get paid the minutes you're in the classroom - Course book is quite poorly designed, and you have to teach with that everyday - You have to create authentic teaching materials for Special interest classes (about 30% of your total teaching hours), and are unpaid. There's almost no materials for you to teach those classes - Facilities are old and broken. 20 adults hoping to practise on their listening skills while there's no speaker in the classrooms but just the projector's "speakers". 13+ teachers are sharing one old printer, which always is down and disconnected from the PCs. - Management is chaotic, there isn't an HR department/person. Communication can be more transparent - Zero career progression, or chance for development - Zero benefit

EF (Education First) Response

8mo

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience working as a Teacher in our Manchester school. We’re sorry to hear it wasn’t all positive, but we really appreciate your feedback — it helps us keep improving. Our pay, marking, and lesson prep policies follow EF Language Abroad’s global framework to ensure consistency across all schools. The 5th edition of our main course book is also nearly complete, and we’ve not had any specific concerns raised by students about the current version. We know SPIN (Special Interest) classes have had mixed feedback in the past, and our academic team has been working to build a strong resource bank to make planning easier. Many SPINs now use EF-published materials, and at Manchester they make up no more than 20% of a teacher’s timetable. The school is currently undergoing a facelift, with classroom equipment and resources being reviewed and upgraded as part of that. Staff also have access to EF Language Abroad’s People & Culture function for any HR needs, and our academic team meets weekly to support communication and planning. We’ve rolled out our career ladder to make progression opportunities clearer, and regularly share details of both EF-wide and Manchester-specific benefits with our team. We appreciate your feedback and wish you all the best in your next steps.

Viewing 169 - 171 of 4,611 Reviews

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