You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Attempts to raise salaries across publishing appear to be failing, according to a new survey of publishing salaries. The BookCareers.com survey found that the average starting wage has risen by just 6% over the past four years, with the average salary across the sector up by just 4%, meaning that in real terms pay has fallen. The survey also found that women in publishing earn on average 15% less than their male counterparts, though the pay gap has closed marginally.
The results will reopen the debate about whether publishers are missing out on first-class employees by offering low wages, resulting in an industry dominated by what one chief executive memorably described as "privately-educated Emmas". This latest survey of salaries in publishing was undertaken between March and May 2008 by BookCareers.com, and received more than 500 responses from individuals in publishing: it found that 83% of employees were female, while 92% of respondents had a graduate degree or a higher qualification.
The average salary of all full-time respondents to the survey was £24,871, just £1,000 higher than the £23,942 figure recorded in in 2004, when the BookCareers.com survey was last undertaken. The figure is some £6,000 less than the mean salary recorded by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in 2008, but only slightly behind the national median salary of £25,000. The BookCareers.com survey found that men were paid an average wage of £27,937, almost £4,000 more than women's average pay of £24,234, a gap of 15% that is in fact half the national average gap as measured by ONS.
The average starting salary for the 18-23 age group with less than a year in their current job was £17,300, compared with £16,300 in 2004, and £14,353 two years before that. For men the average starting salary was £18,284 and for women it was £17,131.
The average full-time salaries in publishing are significantly lower than the ONS median figures for others professions such as legal and accounting (£29,000), research (£34,000), computing (£38,000), though much higher than salaries for library workers (£23,000). However, despite the low salaries, most publishing employees said they intended to stay in their jobs, with only 18.9% determined to leave their jobs.
But many were, nevertheless, unhappy. One commented: "I am on lower pay than any of the people I know who graduated at the same time as me, and it is demoralising to feel so undervalued." The respondent reported that "many colleagues can only survive because of financial assistance from family or partners". The average salary for 24-26 year olds was £20,400 and the average salary for 27-30 year olds £24,889. The highest salary band was the 51+ age group, which was earning £38,968.
Academic publishing produced the lowest average salary of £23,086, with trade publishing producing an average of £25,077 and STM publishing producing an average of £25,926. The most lucrative area of publishing to be in was business, professional or legal publishing with an average salary of £26,170.
There was some evidence provided by the survey that before the recession really took hold, pay was on the increase, albeit at small levels. Of those who received a pay review in publishing, 7.5% of people got between 1% and 2%, 17.3% got an increase of between 2% and 3%, and 12.5% got an increase between 3% and 4%.
Eighteed months ago a Facebook group entitled "I work in publishing and I'm underpaid" was set up and followed a fierce debate about publishing pay prompted by a Society of Bookmen event, where senior industry figures spoke of their fears that publishing was losing talent to other industries because of poor pay. The group now has close to 1,000 members. But despite industry efforts to improve salaries, the survey suggests that pay is falling back.
Writing a Bookseller blog on the survey, Suzanne Collier, who runs BookCareers.com, said that she was "ashamed of some employers within the industry", who behaved "shabbily" when it came to pay. But Collier was sympathetic to employers who could not afford to pay top salaries for graduates during a recession: "It might be unrealistic to be talking about salaries when times are hard and jobs are scarce, but let’s face it; salaries in publishing have never been great. But I wonder if bosses at the top know (or perhaps remember) what being chronically underpaid does to someone."
Salary Survey 2008 in numbers
Average pay: £24,871
Male: £27,973
Female: £24,234
Pay by age
19-23 £17,813
24-26 £20,400
27-30 £24,889
31-35 £27,484
36-51 £34,714
51+ £38,968
Pay by sector
Academic £23,086
Business/Professional/Legal £26,170
Children's £25,172
Educational £25,670
Reference £24,115
STM (Science, Technical, Medical) £25,926
Trade £25,077
Selected jobs
Assistant Editor £18,925
Commissioning Editor £26,450
Editor £23,806
Managing Editor £30,379
Marketing Assistant £17,645
Marketing Manager £24,781
Production Assistant £17,875
Production Manager £34,944
Graphic Designer/Art £23,592
Publicity Assistant £16,792
Publicity Manager £29,347
Rights Assistant £17,688
Rights Manager £30,245
Sales Manager £31,817
For more on the Salary Survey visit http://www.bookcareers.com" target="_blank" title="bookcareers.com">bookcareers.com.