Hachette UK publishes its latest Ethnicity and Gender Pay Gap Reports

Hachette UK has published its latest Ethnicity Pay Gap and Gender Pay Gap Reports as part of its ongoing commitment to transparency under ‘Changing the Story’, the programme of people, publishing and partnerships to improve diversity and inclusion that marked its fifth anniversary last year.

Kim Kidd, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Hachette UK, commented: “It’s encouraging to see that representation is improving and both our ethnicity and gender pay gaps are moving in the right direction, but there’s still a long way to go before we are fully representative of the consumers we hope to serve. We hope that being open and transparent about our journey with our colleagues and the industry will lead to more collaboration, quicker action and, ultimately, progress for everyone.”

Ethnicity Pay Gap:
There was no Ethnicity Pay Gap Report in 2021 due to the lockdown and it was agreed in consultation with THRIVE, Hachette UK’s network for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees, that this year’s report would include two years of data to bring it in line with the Gender Pay Gap Report.

The mean ethnicity pay gap has reduced since 2019, with a 20.1% reduction for Hachette UK Ltd and a 17% reduction for the Whole Group . The median ethnicity pay gap has also reduced since 2019, with a 16.7% reduction for Hachette UK Ltd and a 32.9% reduction for the Whole Group.

In 2019, in line with the Publishers Association Inclusivity Action Plan, Hachette UK pledged a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation target of 15% of the total group workforce within five years. Representation in the Whole Group has increased by 49%, from 7.7% at the April 2018 snapshot date when it published its first report, to 11.5%, at the April 2021 snapshot date. Across Hachette UK Ltd, representation has increased to 13.3%.

Gender Pay Gap:
The mean gender pay gaps for Hachette UK Ltd and the Whole Group have continued to reduce. Since its first report in 2018, the publisher has seen a reduction in the mean pay gap for Hachette UK Ltd of 27.6% and a reduction for the Whole Group of 6.3%. The median pay gap figures are also moving in the right direction overall, but with a very slight upward fluctuation of half a percentage point in the Hachette UK Ltd figure between 2020 and 2021.

In 2018, Hachette UK pledged that the [then] population of 66% women would be reflected in the top pay quartile. It is now close to achieving that target, at 64%, and over the same time period, the makeup of the Hachette UK Board has also shifted from one third to two thirds women.

Live Action Plans:
Hachette UK has continued to implement its action plans to improve representation in the business and work towards reducing both the ethnicity and gender pay gaps. Last year, it published its ‘Changing the Story: People and Publishing Transparency Report’, which included the results of its 2021 staff and author censuses, and outlined new initiatives to address areas of under-representation and shape the next five years of ‘Changing the Story’.

These include a partnership with The Black Writers’ Guild; the creation of a new virtual work experience programme with Springpod on the business of publishing for a thousand students aged 15 -18; the reimagining of ‘The Future Bookshelf’ as the home for all of Hachette UK’s creative writing programmes focused on diversity and inclusion; the expansion of Hachette UK’s traineeship programme in partnership with Curtis Brown and Waterstones; and ‘Opening the Book’, a series of free, virtual events to demystify publishing and make it more transparent and accessible to under-represented groups.

Hachette UK has also appointed an in-house talent acquisition team dedicated to ensuring its vacancies reach the broadest possible range of candidates and to supporting hiring managers to bring a fair and consistent approach to recruitment practices across the company.

In 2021, Hachette UK received the Inclusivity in Publishing Award at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards, which recognised the transparent, holistic and open approach it has taken to diversity and inclusion, and it also ranked in The Times’ Top 50 Employers for Women – the most widely respected award for employers committed to achieving gender equality – for the second consecutive year.

The full versions of both the Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and the Gender Pay Gap Report can be found on the Hachette UK website.