The Frankfurt Book Fair, which employees a robust staff year-round, announced “a restructuring program for its operating company” that will include both layoffs and organizational changes. “It is already clear that the existing structures are to be streamlined, for example by merging departments. This will also involve job cuts,” they said in a statement. The changes follow the cancellation of this year’s live fair, and continuing uncertainty over the effect of the pandemic on future events: “As a result of the COVID-19-related loss of income this year and the uncertain planning perspective, the available restructuring options are currently being examined. […]
Crisis reference
Macmillan Postpones Office Reopening Until July
Macmillan Publishers said it will not officially reopen their New York City trade publishing offices before July 6, 2021. (Previously, the date was January 11). In the meantime, the company has expanded a voluntary program that allows employees limited access to their work space. They underscore that the program “follows requirements from the CDC and New York City requiring employees to social distance, wear masks, and fill out a health screening form before arriving onsite.” Macmillan Global COO Andrew Weber said, “This is just an example of the many resources that we have created or adapted to better accommodate the […]
Amazon Delivers…Coronavirus
Under the distracting title of Update On Covid-19 Testing, Amazon published a blog post that reveals their analysis of data on the prevalence of the disease among their front-line employees. Across almost 1.4 million Amazon and Whole Foods Market front-line employees, just under 20,000 people tested positive or were presumed positive. They say they “hope other large companies will also release their detailed learnings and case rates because doing so will help all of us.” Amazon has built their own Covid-19 testing capacity and is “ramping quickly, conducting thousands of tests a day and growing to 50,000 tests a day […]
Corporate: Early Retirement At HMH, and Judge Throws Out Parneros’s Defamation Claim Against BN
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced that 166 employees — five percent of the company’s workforce — opted to participate in a voluntary early retirement incentive program, which had first been announced August 6 in the company’s quarterly report. The program was offered to all US-based employees who are at least 55 years old and have at least five years of service, comprising about 18 percent of the workforce. For the majority of employees who elected to leave, the decision was effective September 4, though a few are leaving later in the year. According to the SEC filing, the total one-time cash […]
People, Etc.
At Macmillan Children’s, Mekisha Telfer has been promoted to senior associate editor at Roaring Brook Press; Luisa Beguiristain to assistant editor at Roaring Brook Press; Melissa Warten to associate editor at Farrar, Straus Children’s; Elizabeth Lee to assistant editor at Farrar, Straus Children’s; and Robyn Chapman to editor at First Second. CEO of Taylor & Francis Annie Callanan was elected president of the UK’s Publishers Association, taking over from Cambridge University Press ceo Peter Phillips. Hachette UK ceo David Shelley was elected vice-president and treasurer; Bonnier Books UK ceo Perminder Mann was named chair of the Consumer Publishers Council. Aylin LaMorey-Salzmann has […]
Two Longtime Barnes & Noble Warehouse Employees Have Died of Covid-19
Longtime employees at Barnes & Noble’s New Jersey distribution center Felix Ramirez and Alberto Joyasaca have died from complications related to Covid-19. Ramirez died April 13, according to co-workers, and Joyasaca died on May 4. BN spokesperson Alex Ortolani confirmed Ramirez’s death to NJ.com, saying the company was “deeply saddened by his passing.” Ortolani reports that the facility was closed for five days, through April 22 and he indicates there have been no positive cases in employees since then. He says they have closed four times already for a “deep cleaning,” with another one planned for May 9. In late […]