Hachette UK publishes annual ethnicity and gender pay gap reports

21 March 2024 – 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’, their programme of people, publishing, and partnerships to improve diversity and inclusion. As a commitment to transparency and to give an accurate picture of the whole company, Hachette UK 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 plus everyone in Hachette Distribution.

Kim Kidd, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Hachette UK, commented: “In 2023, for Hachette UK Ltd, both the Ethnicity and Gender median pay gaps decreased. Additionally, we have seen increased representation of Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage colleagues across all pay quartiles and a rise in the number of women in the upper pay quartile across Hachette UK’s Whole Group. As an employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we have a responsibility to help dismantle the interconnected barriers that women and individuals from Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds face in their careers. While we’re proud of our progress so far in driving equality at Hachette UK, we recognise that the whole picture is not a reflection of our ambition and commitment to Changing the Story.”

Ethnicity Pay Gap:

The median and mean ethnicity pay gap figures for Hachette UK Ltd have decreased. The median has dropped by 3% and is now 9.4%, and the mean ethnicity pay gap figure has narrowed by 1.3% to 16.7%.

Overall, the median and mean ethnicity bonus pay gap figures have increased both for the Whole Group and Hachette UK Ltd in comparison to 2022. However, when specifically looking at Hachette UK Distribution, there was a decrease in the median bonus pay gap figure, which is down 17.2% to 5.8%.

In 2018, in line with the Publishers Association Inclusivity Action Plan, Hachette UK pledged a Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage representation target of 15% of the total group workforce within five years. This target is close to being achieved across Hachette UK Ltd, where representation has increased by 1.5% to 14.7% compared to 2022. Representation in the Whole Group across all quartiles has gone up and overall has increased by 5.3% from 7.7% in 2018 to 13% in 2023. In January 2023, Hachette UK increased their representation targets in line with the Publishers Association’s three-year action plan to reach 18.3% by 2026.

Gender Pay Gap:

The median pay gap has narrowed to 17% for Hachette UK Ltd, which is down from 17.7% in 2022. Since Hachette UK’s first Gender Pay Gap report in 2017, there has been a 7.7% reduction in the median pay gap for Hachette UK Ltd (from 24.7% to 17%).

There was a positive shift in the median bonus pay gap for the Whole Group, now favouring women at -2.1%, and for Hachette UK Ltd., which is now down 2.5% to 14.8%.

There has been an increase in the representation of women in senior roles within the publishing division, Hachette UK Ltd, with 64.8% in the upper quartile and 75.8% in the upper middle quartile, compared to 56.6% and 69.8% respectively, as reported in 2017. The makeup of the Hachette UK Board has also increased to nearly 60% women, of which 20% are from a Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage background.

Despite this positive change in data for publishing roles, when including Distribution, the Whole Group’s mean and median gender pay gap increased. The mean is now 17.02% and the median is 8%.

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.

Live Action Plans:

Hachette UK has continued to implement its action plans to improve representation in the business and ultimately remove the ethnicity and gender pay gaps.

Lisa Waterman, Group HR Director, Hachette UK said: ‘We continue to prioritise actions that have a direct impact on recruitment, retention, and promotion, including parental mentoring for those returning from family leave, a virtual work experience programme focused on the business of publishing for over 1000 students aged 15-18, the expansion of Hachette UK’s traineeship programme in partnership with Creative Access, Curtis Brown and Waterstones; the engagement of recruitment partner, Vercida, a careers platform with a strong commitment to diversity, Pay and Progression workshops covering themes such as flexible working, career progression, and returning from parental leave. All this work is underpinned by the ongoing and proactive engagement with Hachette UK’s brilliant staff networks, especially Thrive (Hachette’s Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage employee network) and Gender Balance Network, who actively partner in bringing equity and inclusion to Hachette’s ever-increasingly-diverse-workforce.’

There is an ongoing commitment to pay transparency, and in January 2023, Hachette UK conducted an additional pay review focused primarily on those whose salaries were in the lower quartiles. In addition, Hachette UK’s continued development and growth of the national offices makes it possible to recruit and connect with the local talent and creative network in five cities across the UK. Of the 120 staff now working from a National Office, over 40% have been recruited locally and in Sheffield, that number rises to over 50%.

Last year, for the fourth year running, Hachette UK was named one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality – the most widely respected award for employers committed to achieving gender equality.

Mary Macleod, Chief Executive of Business in the Community, said: “Hachette UK is one of the companies leading the way in building a culture where women can reach their full potential by showing real commitment to addressing gender inequalities in the workplace.”

The full versions of the Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and the Gender Pay Gap Report are available on the Hachette UK website.