From The Bookseller:
Hachette has reported a rise across both its mean and median gender pay gaps for the whole company group between 2022 and 2023, while the bonus pay gap for ethnicity has also deepened, though progress in other areas has been made.
The group – which encompasses Hachette UK Ltd (staff in publishing divisions and central departments) and its distribution workforce – has published its latest Ethnicity Pay Gap and Gender Pay Gap reports as part of “Changing the Story”, its programme to improve diversity and inclusion. Kim Kidd, diversity and inclusion manager at Hachette UK, conceded that “the whole picture is not a reflection of our ambition”.
The company reports on three entities: Hachette UK Ltd, which comprises staff in publishing roles; Hachette Distribution; and the whole group, which includes those in Hachette UK Ltd and Hachette distribution.
The whole group’s mean and median gender pay gap increased compared with 2022’s figures. The mean is now 17% (compared to 14.5% previously) and the median is 8% (up from 6%). This continues the trend from last year’s figures (the 2021 figures were about 13% and 5.6% respectively)
The publisher said: “One of the reasons for this shift in the whole group’s results is that the distribution team is comparatively small, so minor changes in the number of employees can affect the pay gap significantly. In addition, at Hachette UK Ltd there has been a drop in the number of men in the lower quartile, where 15.6% of the workforce is male.”
Link to the rest at The Bookseller