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Budget, AI and rising costs: industry insiders discuss redundancy trends
A survey conducted by The Bookseller has found a significant number of redundancies within the publishing industry this year. Around half of the respondents revealed that they had gone through redundancy in 2024, with one industry insider describing the publishing jobs market “like a bomb’s about to go off”.
Last month’s Budget and general political uncertainty, plus Artificial Intelligence (AI) and company mergers and acquisitions have all been cited as factors by survey respondents and those interviewed by The Bookseller.
While the survey is relatively small—it ran for less than 48 hours—and self-selecting, only one out of the 69 respondents said redundancies or restructuring had not been an issue in the company. Instead, 44% (30 people) have been made redundant in the last year, while another 7% (five people) went through a redundancy consultation or kept their job. Around 30% (20 people) said others in their company had been made redundant, while some said they had been impacted by restructures in other ways.
Bonnier Books UK, Penguin Random House UK and Oxford University Press are among some of the big-hitters to have made redundancies in the last year.
Sam Humphreys, who was recently one of three high-level publishers made redundant at Bonnier Books UK, has shared her tips below. “I think redundancies are going to become more common,” she told The Bookseller. “This is the second time I’ve been made redundant and I’d been wondering about offering to write something [on it] for a while, even before this second redundancy.”
Like many who responded to the survey, Humphreys was affected by merging divisions: “My redundancy was as a result of two trade divisions merging; I guessed it was coming but, because I’d been there under two years, there was no consultation.”
A former indie press staffer explained how the experience had been “intensely stressful”, “upsetting” and “harrowing”, and “the whole process took six weeks from the first meeting to my last day,” adding: “Reasons were financial, although my area of the business was actually making a profit. I was told I was at risk three weeks after having an offer on my first house accepted. It was awful.”
Another was let go from a Big Four publisher: “The news was broken to me out of the blue in November, about six months after I returned from maternity leave—and they wanted me gone by Christmas.” She also claimed she had “no support from her line manager, who ignored her existence”.
One agency assistant spent three months job-hunting after being made redundant just shy of two years in, which she was told was due to cost-cutting. Shortly after, she saw an announcement in The Bookseller that another assistant had been hired there. “The announcement came up between a first and second job interview and was brought up at the job interview, which was very difficult,” she said. “It has made me feel insecure and less trusting.”
The high number of company acquisitions and mergers was cited by several respondents. One marketing professional said: “I was given approximately six months’ notice. Our company was bought by another publisher. My boss was kind and supportive, and agreed to a much needed pay rise in my remaining time... which helped mitigate the anger I felt when it became obvious that even at the beginning of my employment they likely knew this would be how it was going to end.”
Another former publisher described the impact of a company buy-out, explaining that there were a number of “top-level early retirements”, which they described as “unsettling”, which apparently led to rumours about redundancies and restructure.
They said: “My boss began to undermine me in meetings, humiliate me in front of colleagues with offensive remarks, deliberately ignore me, take credit for things I had done and/or credit others for work I had done, exclude me from meetings and so on and so forth, until it became unbearable. It was devastating, especially when otherwise the books I was working on were having great success, and I enjoyed my job very much.”
Those who ‘survived’ the redundancies are also impacted. “There were redundancies two years ago and continual restructuring leading to ‘strategic non-replacement’ policy and hiring freezes in 2024,” one respondent said. “This has lead to doubling of my workload since 2022.”
Another, whose company lost headcount, said in the survey: “Workload [was] impacted, my team experienced low morale and became even more cynical.” An employee for a Big Four publisher revealed that “the financial pressure on our division is palpable”. They said: “Redundancies haven’t been explicitly mentioned to me yet, but we’ve been told that the exec might have to make ‘tough decisions’ if we don’t make this year’s budget.”
Career coach Suzanne Collier, who helps people who have lost their jobs, described an increased case load since July. “I’ve had one of my client publishers ask how much capacity I’ve got for next year,” she said.
While she believes AI is “affecting things”, she emphasised the recent Budget as a major factor, particularly the National Insurance changes. “There was nothing in there about this, nothing that encourages investment... That’s what is worrying me. Fixed costs are going up and the only way publishers can control this, sadly, is losing jobs.”
Another industry insider, who prefers to remain anonymous, said: “I’ve seen the lull before the storm and companies start to slow down recruitment, started as soon as Labour got elected... I spoke to recruiters and the situation seems strange, like a bomb’s about to go off.”
Some are more hopeful. Danny Parnes, director of recruitment company Think Selection, said: “There have been restructurings in the industry, but alongside organisational changes we are witnessing the emergence of exciting new roles too. As the industry adapts to evolving technologies, shifting consumer behaviours and an increased focus on digital products and data-driven decision-making, innovative new positions are also being created.”
Tips on dealing with redundancy
From Sam Humphreys, Editorial Freelancer
First, if you have been in your job for less than two years—and this was me most recently—you do not have a leg to stand on. Your employer can make your role redundant with no consultation or compensation, not even statutory redundancy pay. It is still worth asking, though: they do not have to agree, but they may offer something as a goodwill gesture.
More than two years, though, and your employer has to offer a consultation and some kind of financial compensation if they do make your role redundant. Obviously, it often feels as though it is a forgone conclusion, but my top tip is to dispute the redundancy if you think you have grounds to do so.
Ask for support
You might want to take someone into these meeting(s) with you if you get advance notice and/or the opportunity. There can be a lot to take in, and a colleague can make notes and ask questions, as well as offering support—so do not be embarrassed to ask someone to accompany you.
Know your rights
Ask your employer to pay your legal fees (you will probably need a lawyer as they will need to check the agreement that is drawn up) and they may also agree to fund some kind of career coaching, for example. Or, you might request to be paid your bonus still, or keep your laptop. If you don’t ask, though, you don’t get. And after that, give yourself time.
Be kind
Finally, if you are making someone redundant—please be nice. Or, if you have a colleague who has been made redundant, send them a message. It does not take much, and it means a lot. And it might be you one day.
Read Humphreys’ comment piece for The Bookseller on redundancy here.
