Bloomsbury to repay pandemic pay cuts

Bloomsbury Australia’s parent company in the UK has announced it will repay almost £700,000 (A$985,000) to staff who took a pay cut during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, reports the Bookseller.

The announcement follows the publisher’s highest first-half earnings since 2008, which represented 60% profit growth year-on-year in the six months to 31 August 2020.

Bloomsbury announced in April that it had asked the majority of employees to take a pay cut for three months as part of the company’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. The Bookseller said 750 staff worldwide would be reimbursed the salary reduction.

CEO Nigel Newton said staff had been ‘incredibly resilient and we are lucky’.

‘Staff at Bloomsbury have been incredible during the pandemic,’ he told the Bookseller. ‘This has led to a much better than expected result, our highest first half since 2008. It was prompted by having the right books at the right moment and also our by our decision not to delay titles because of the pandemic. Our staff supported the company when we needed it and now with this outcome of our profits being 60% up we are able to repay them—and with our thanks.’

Category: Local news