Macmillan Publishers Reviews

Pros

Good work atmosphere
Pleasant colleagues
Supportive management
Pleasant CEOs
Good health insurance and disability cover
Good location
Bonuses are usually given
Not a 'corporate' environment
Compassionate leave is freely given
Kitchen is always well stocked
Managers are reasonable
Allowances include some for travel, phone use, etc
Issues are resolved quickly

Cons

I complained here when I had an issue with the overtime, but when I brought it up seriously with management, it was resolved almost immediately. (So it's not a dislike anymore.)

Advice to Senior Management

Thank you for addressing overtime concerns. Please always extend the same recognition to all staff, at all levels, especially those struggling with their health or finances.

Pros

Friendly co workers
Nice location
relaxed atmosphere
free books occasionally

Cons

Pay well below market rates in ALL areas (even compared to other publishers)
Staff development is always promised but never delivered
Senior Mgmt do not seem to have much clue of what's going on beneath them, poor decision making
Stale environment
Christmas party was in the staff canteen, which sums it up really

Advice to Senior Management

Out with the old, in with the new

Pros

Working in the Flatiron is cool to tell people, and people think it's a prestigious company and industry (even though people confuse Macmillan with McGraw-Hill all the time and always ask if you work in academic publishing when it's trade). Free books.

Cons

Where to begin-- poor pay. Starting salary for assistants is still $28K, which is much less than other companies. Management lies and says it's easy to move up or to other departments, but it's very cliquey, and if you don't know the right people that will never happen. Benefits are awful-- they just changed to a different plan to save the company money but didn't consult with employees about it. A lot of people had to change doctors that they had been going to for years.

The building is falling apart inside. It is poorly maintained, which makes you feel great about going to work when your desk is coated in layers of dust and the walls are scuffed and gray with lack of paint. How do customers/clients/business partners take you seriously when your building and fixtures are so gross. And there aren't enough conference rooms, so you're always trying to find one. The management buys second hand furniture for everyone except the executives, so it always looks like your office is a college rec room full of Craigslist purchases.

Also-- there is very little communication at different levels. Some of the leadership are incompetent and don't know how to do basic computer functions. If you're thinking about working here, definitely reconsider.

Advice to Senior Management

Ask for input from people at all levels. If only the people who are at the top (with good salaries, good perks, etc.) make policy, nothing will ever change. Raise the base salary. It's impossible to live on $28K in NYC unless you have family support, and that means that only wealthy, cliquey, people work there until they can find something better.

Pros

- reputable company
- great for people interested in editorial
- nice coworkers

Cons

- not a lot of room for growth
- salary is low

Advice to Senior Management

better with employee coaching

Pros

established publisher, looks good on CV

Cons

Poor management, very low pay, no training, no career prospects

Advice to Senior Management

pay more for competent smart and dedicated people to join the company, rather than saving on salaries and giving jobs to incompetent and unmotivated personnel
provide personnel with relevant training on regular basis. Training is pretty much standard at any company nowadays. I'm shocked Macmillan doesn't do that!

Pros

Working in the Human Resources department you get a good feel of different aspects of the what each position entails. Co-workers are friendly and respectable.

Cons

One of the downsides may be the pay for the interns on an hourly rate, and give more opportunity for growth within the department.

Advice to Senior Management

Everyone in the HR department does their job, everyone seems to enjoy what they do and show good leadership skills

Pros

prestige and very good books

Cons

pay is extremely extremely low

Advice to Senior Management

pay better, please

Pros

opportunity to work in editorial, summer fridays, week off between christmas and new years, friendly coworkers, connection to the industry of book publishing

Cons

poor salary, bad benefits packages, little room for advancement in a company that seems to feel and project that its era is rapidly dying out

Advice to Senior Management

offer better pay, more room for advancement, more company perks like gym, lunch, better benefits package that pays more to insurance and matches 401k

Pros

Nice and friendly people, supportive work environment, very little pressure, good on working hours for women, flexible on home working

Cons

Dreadful location in the middle of nowhere, low morale, clunkingly slow to get anything done, very noisy from Sainsbury's depot next door

Advice to Senior Management

encourage staff to be a bit more proactive, have fewer meetings and more getting things done, abandon the Basingstoke office that ressembles a badly built cardboard soap opera set

Pros

While I've heard that experiences vary from department to department, I was given the responsibilities of a full-time employee at Macmillan--albeit the lowest one on the ladder. I had to do most of the menial work--catalog entries--with a couple of opportunities to draft original content. Got to work hands-on with books that had not yet been published, so that was fun. My boss was a great guy, if a bit unsure of how to interact with me since I mainly took orders from the next highest guy up on the totem pole.

Cons

One's department can feel a bit isolated from the others. Especially as an intern, it can be difficult to sense how you are supposed to prove yourself, move up or contribute in a function outside the generally rote tasks you are given. Partially because the top person in your department might not have a say in how the book gets marketed/produced/etc. So the job felt a little mechanical and impersonal.

Advice to Senior Management

Maybe emphasize transparency in a way that shows interns what's going on beyond giving weekly talks. It would be valuable to have an employees-only site that actually got updated and explained something more about the books than I could figure out for myself in title management or from the public internet catalog.