Staffers report career fears following lockdown year

Industry staffers have expressed worries about staff freezes and reduced opportunities for promotion and development, in a Bookseller survey marking the anniversary of the first lockdown.

Following revelations about an increased mental health burden in lockdown, and how the restrictions have thrown a spotlight on inequalities within the book industry, concerns have also been raised that working from home has reduced mentoring and learning opportunities.

The informal lack of networks appeared to be an issue for most but could be particularly detrimental to younger or junior members of staff working their way up. A London-based literary agent said: “The social impact has been great. Assistants not growing up together and learning about the industry and meeting each other. The inability just to drop into somebody's office and chat things through, to work through problems. The inability to bond with new staff. These are far greater problems for us than the predicted financial issues.”

A publishing staffer added: “The move to home working is good, because it should make things more accessible to the industry, but I remain concerned the people being hired for entry level roles are [now] people who are moving within the industry and are seen as safer, more experienced bets who will require less training. The suspension of work experience and internship programmes is also concerning - young people learn so much from just being in an office environment and seeing how things work.”

Meanwhile many revealed they felt less likely to take professional risks and change jobs because of lockdown. “[I’d be] more risk averse, having lived through so many changes, with the library closing then opening then closing then opening, it has been stressful," a librarian said. "There is comfort in the known at the moment.”

An academic publisher agreed. “[I’m] more risk averse — my current position is stable and not under threat and I can do the job. I'm comfortable and that's most important to me while things are uncertain and unemployment is high,” they said.

Another respondent hinted at feeling stuck: not wanting to chase new roles but also facing more barriers to promotion under lockdown. “I'm definitely not willing to seek out new jobs as unemployment is at a high and I wouldn't want to risk that,” the HarperCollins employee told the survey. “I'm more willing to ask for promotions but the company is less willing to give them out due to finances.”

There was also the concern that joining a new company could be particularly difficult in lockdown. A publishing employee said: “I think I would really struggle moving to a new team remotely and not having the social aspect of meeting the team. Stories from other friends in the industry have also made me wary of how some companies have treated staff during this time (overworking, poor set-ups for home working, asking staff to take salary cuts). I feel like I would consider all of these things much more strongly now.”

The Chartered Institute for Professional Development (CIPD) recently laid out how employers need to look at where inequalities may have arisen in lockdown and ensuring people’s careers are not impacted long term. The organisation said in its ‘Hybrid Working Guide’ for companies using both home and office workers going forward that there is a need to “identify areas where inequalities may have developed during the pandemic and setting out plans to address these to ensure they not have a long-term detrimental impact on individuals or the organisation”. The CIPD also said: “In a hybrid environment organisations must ensure ongoing access to development and career conversations for all employees and make sure there is a fair allocation of work and opportunities.”

A few survey respondents suggested that they were going to be more strategic about job-hunting. “I am going to calculate my career much more carefully,” one freelance said. Another former freelance worker revealed they had jumped the fence for more security, saying: “I moved in-house concerned that freelance work would be much harder to come by.”

However a few respondents said that the last year had made them want to step out of their comfort zone even more. “[I’m] less risk-averse as I feel I want to make the most of opportunities and get the most out of each situation that I'm in,” one publishing employee said. Meanwhile for one HarperCollins staffer, the situation has only “emphasised how we only have this time on earth so let’s make the most of it”.