UK publishers act to Help Staff in Cost of Living Crisis
Pan Macmillan is the latest publisher in the UK to introduce measures to alleviate the cost of living for its staff. It has given staff a one-off payment of £750 to ease the effects of rising fuel costs and inflation. Its action follows similar moves at Canongate, Faber and Simon & Schuster (S&S).
Pan Macmillan said: “We paid everyone at Pan Mac except the very senior team a one-off cost of living support payment of £750 in October [and] increased book discounts for colleagues to 75% and reduced the cost of private medical insurance contributions.
“We brought payday forward to earlier in the month from October and have offered access to online tools to support budgeting. We have also increased our breakfast offering each morning, added more healthy afternoon snacks and a fruit basket each day for our colleagues and we have added free fortnightly lunches in our refectory for all.”
At Canongate staff have been paid a monthly subsidy since September 2022, and will continue to receive payments until March 2023, when salaries are reviewed. Staff at S&S staff are being offered a one-off relief payment this winter, which covers additional expenses and bills incurred while working from home, which has been backdated to March 2020. The publisher has also recently increased starting salaries to £26,000.