UK publishing staff ‘crushed’, ‘unfocused’ after one year of Covid

In the UK, publishing staff are predicting a 50-50 split between home and office working in the future, while many feel ‘crushed, tired, unfocused and lacking in motivation’ after a year of Covid-19 disruptions, reports the Bookseller.

The Bookseller surveyed 78 publishing staff about their responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Bookseller, many responses relayed feelings of exhaustion and anxiety, with many critical of the monotony of working from home. ‘Maintaining a work–life balance is very difficult … having boundaries in your own living room is a challenge,’ said one Penguin Random House staffer.

However, other responses were appreciative of the home-working set-up and want to see it continue. ‘I’m excited to return, but I hope publishing has learned some lessons about how we can work flexibly going forward,’ said one publisher. ‘Flexible working is something our disabled colleagues have been fighting for [for] a long time and publishing now has no excuse for not making that happen.’

Around half of respondents believe that their future would see a 50-50 split between home and office. A quarter predicted it would be mostly office-based, and 8% said they would be in the office full-time. Seventeen percent of respondents believed they would either be mostly or fully home-based in future.

Category: International news