UK publishing 2024 workforce report indicates ‘disappointing trend’
In the UK, the Publishers Association (PA) has released its annual workforce survey report, which, among other findings, suggests ‘improvement in geographic diversity’, while showing ‘a small, but statistically significant, decrease in Asian and British Asian members of the workforce since 2022’.
Based on survey responses from 9707 people working in 52 publishing companies in the UK, key findings show a ‘significant’ increase in publishing workers living outside of London. Now accounting for 35% of the workforce members who responded, the proportion of respondents living in London has decreased by 10%, while there has been an increase in respondents from the UK’s southeast, increasing from 21% in 2022 to 27% in 2024.
The UK publishing industry has a majority of female workers. Over two in three respondents identify as female (68%), which represents a slight increase since 2022 (66%). The report included a brief paragraph on the presence of transgender workers within the respondents, beneath the ‘LGB+’ heading, indicating that 1% of respondents were of a gender different to the sex assigned at birth, while 2% declined to answer the question. However, gender diversity was not further analysed within the report.
Among publishing workers completing the survey, there was a markedly higher rate of non-heterosexual orientations, when compared to the general UK population, with 16% of respondents identifying as LGB+ (slightly up from 15% in 2022), as compared to the general UK population (3%).
However, the report suggested a continued lack of cultural diversity among publishing workers in the UK. Ethnic minority representation has decreased overall since 2022 (from 17% to 15%), ‘with a specific decline in numbers of Asian and British Asian staff’, said PA. While ‘ethic minority representation in publishing has increased in London from 17% to 23%’, this proportion ‘is still notably lower than the general London population (46%)’, said the report.
‘Representation from lower socio-economic backgrounds remains an area for improvement’, said PA. Two thirds of respondents (65%) came from professional backgrounds, similar to the 2022 result (66%).
In the report, PA CEO Dan Conway said of the decline in cultural diversity shown in this year’s results: ‘We need to understand this disappointing trend and work with the specialist support from Creative Access and our Diversity Working Group to address this in the year ahead.’
‘Elsewhere, there is some good news on ethnic diversity, with London increasing representation significantly since last measured in 2022. That said, there is still a long way to go to match the overall population demographics, and the Publishers Association is setting out a range of activities we will scope, develop and deliver in the year ahead.’
Said Conway: ‘We believe it is essential that everyone who works in publishing, in whatever capacity and from whichever background, feels valued and is given the opportunity to realise their full potential. Inclusion is critical, if the publishing industry is to thrive.’
Category: International news
