Is EF (Education First) a good company to work for?

EF (Education First) has an overall rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 6,463 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months. 61% of employees would recommend working at EF (Education First) to a friend and 48% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about EF (Education First) have been left by employees working as Sales Manager , Director and Intern .

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 1% 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 (240) , Online English Teacher (199) , ESL Teacher (198) , Sales Coordinator (137) , Activity Leader (74) , Sales (74) , Online ESL Teacher (67) , Sales Consultant (63) , Manager (61) , Educational Tour Consultant (46) , Marketing (42) , Director (41) , EF Activity Leader (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 419 reviews)); "Overall really great culture and very easy to feel welcome!" ((in 327 reviews)); "Colleagues are great and share similar values for the most part." ((in 210 reviews)); "Great benefits and travel opportunities." ((in 164 reviews)); "The team has been great and so open to teaching you everything you need to know and more." ((in 116 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 610 reviews)); "Employees are generally over worked and have an incredible amount of work for such a low salary." ((in 516 reviews)); "Poor management and lack of decisiveness from managers that have been stagnating in their roles for too many years." ((in 308 reviews)); "There can be long hours and you get told no on the phone quite often." ((in 163 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.

What are the top reviewed EF (Education First) locations?

Boston , Cambridge , Denver , Tarrytown , San Diego , Austin , New York , San Francisco , Thornwood , Santa Barbara , Miami , Chicago , Miami Beach , Brighton , Los Angeles , Washington , Honolulu , Atlanta , China , Redondo Beach , Remote , Long Beach , Pasadena , Monterey , China Grove , Dallas , Houston , Seattle , Portland , Baltimore

EF (Education First) reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(4,616 total reviews)

Edward Hult, Ph.D

62% approve of CEO

48% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

EF (Education First) has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,616 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 Education industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

4.0

Dec 1, 2025

Interesting

Resident advisor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of fun, make good friends

Cons

A bit disorganized, a bit of office politics

EF (Education First) Response

6mo

Thanks for sharing! Great to hear you made lots of friends and had fun while working as a Resident Advisor. If you have any specific things to mention that would improve the experience you can always reach out to hr@ef.com to share more. Thanks again.

1.0

Nov 30, 2025

Do not work here: toxic workplace with ever-increasing workload, not getting any better.

Operations specialist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Junior members of staff are very lovely and supportive of each other. They acknowledge that the company culture is declining and do their best to support one another. Travel opportunities are good, though you are expected to share a (oftentimes a very small) room with a coworker you have never met before.

Cons

The company has reduced 25% of its workforce over the past 18 months and is pushing its current employees to despair. There is no pay progression, and pay is EXTREMELY low in major cities. Management is incredibly toxic with no regard for their employees' mental health or wellbeing. Many people are signed off work with burnout, or stress. You are expected to do the work of many more people than you are, with no recognition or benefits. Overtime remuneration is not a thing (i.e., in payment or time in lieu). Managers and above get to be in these positions not because they're qualified, but because they have stuck it out long enough for them to be given these positions as there is no one else to do them. Many people fill roles that they are not qualified for and have no experience in - this is just the EF way of doing things. 'No plan is the plan' is what they say - and it shows with his tragic it is to work there. Do not do it to yourself.

EF (Education First) Response

6mo

Hi, thank you for sharing your feedback. We have shared your comments with leadership. We take any claims of a toxic workplace very seriously, and the issues you’ve raised regarding compensation and management do not reflect the environment we strive to maintain at EF. We encourage you to connect with your Recruitment and Employee Development team, or reach out directly at hr@ef.com to share further details about your experience so we can ensure your feedback is properly reviewed. Thanks again for sharing.

1.0

Nov 28, 2025

Financially struggling, unstable organisation

Data science engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

EF as a brand is appealing. Sometimes there is a trip to the Zurich office, with all expenses paid

Cons

Most of the company's employees in the EF Language Abroad division have been made redundant in 2025 due to financial difficulties and serve long notice periods. This makes collaboration on project success harder as people are busy looking for other jobs or using tactics to extend notice period. The company doesnt hire new replacements and overburdens existing employees, when people leave. The projects are managed adhoc and knowledge of existing/new leadership about modern tech is outdated so they feel uncertain when supporting innovation or new tech/Ai.. The company has had major failed projects, due to which the uncertainty is heightened. There is no work life balance. The data quality is quite poor - signal is lost in sales data due to lack of tracking, poor architecture and large non digital business component where data entry is done manually and only during certain periods - there is no dedicated architecture team to hanfle challenges - the business is struggling financially already and employees complain about job stability. Overall it doesnt feel like a Swiss or Nordic company.

EF (Education First) Response

6mo

Hi thanks for sharing all this. We have shared it with leadership. The points you’ve raised are serious and therefore we want to learn more. We’d appreciate hearing from you directly at hr@ef.com so we can properly address your concerns and make any changes. Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience with us.

Viewing 121 - 123 of 4,616 Reviews

Jobs at EF (Education First)

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