Penguin blames likely job losses on rise of ebooks

[amjbrown]

I thought this was very interesting, especially given it runs counter to Waterstones in the UK removing their eBook sections saying print is making a comeback.

I believe the Penguin version more...

http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...losses-penguin

[JSWolf]

The article makes it sound like it is our fault for preferring eBooks that these people are going to lose their jobs. It's like trying to guilt us to go back to pBooks.

[soulfuldog]

The Waterstones' decision was just a bookshop talking up its product and dismissing another one (ebooks) it never really believed in anyway.

Oh and the article mentions the decision being down to "a fall-off in demand for physical books, and consolidation among publishers". But the latter isn't a headline grabber is it.

[ottdmk]

Note that it's the Union official blaming the rise of ebooks, not Penguin itself.

[fjtorres]

No mention in the report of the Merger with Bertelsmann as a possible cause for the "redundancies", of course. Nor do they mention that both giants have been shedding staff with every previously-independent imprint they buy up for over 30 years. Many of whom are now freelancers, enabling a certain cottage industry to eat away market share from the BPHs.

In other words, more of the same incoming.

Oh, and in the US they have already closed two massive facilities in NY and PA, moving their warehousing to a new, smaller facility in Indiana.

Surprisingly, Melville House reported on it and *didn't* blame the folks in Seattle. A first for them.

http://www.mhpbooks.com/penguin-rand...on-warehouses/

As an aside, for those not familiar with Melville house, here is a recent sample of their thinking:

http://www.mhpbooks.com/so-why-did-a...n-a-bookstore/

[Phogg]

There are more writing jobs thanks to ebooks.
And less middleman jobs.
And fewer midlist books that the Author can't keep available.

Boo hoo.

Dry your tears with your draconian contracts, Penguin.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Dry your tears with your draconian contracts, Penguin.

They have no tears to dry. They are giddy that they can lay people off and blame it on someone else. Remember, they also sell ebooks, and heaven knows they could use more copy editors, and tech-savvy marketing people and such to capitalize on the 'rise' if they were willing to pay.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ApK

They have no tears to dry. They are giddy that they can lay people off and blame it on someone else. Remember, they also sell ebooks, and heaven knows they could use more copy editors, and tech-savvy marketing people and such to capitalize on the 'rise' if they were willing to pay.

Oh, they don't need to boost staff for that.
They have a full rolodex of ex-staffers turned freelancer/contractor.

The same support system that works for Indies already works for them. That is why they laid them off to start with.

[Cinisajoy]

This reminds me of an email I got last week.
"Hi this is Ellen Perry. If you do not order soon, I will lose my job. Please order so I can keep my job."

Note, I had gotten that email about 3 months ago too and 6 months ago.
I actually called and Ellen is not a real person or at least not there.

Talk about a stupid guilt trip.

Of course the only reason I haven't unsubscribed is to see if they will ever unsubscribe me like they say they will every 4 months.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

This reminds me of an email I got last week.
"Hi this is Ellen Perry. If you do not order soon, I will lose my job. Please order so I can keep my job."

Tell her you're hoping she'll get out of there, because you need her job.

[tomsem]

US-based companies brag about laying people off. It supports the stock price.

It doesn't seem to me that they are blaming anyone (who would they blame? they are one of the major ebook publishers), just saying print sales are down and they have to cut distribution costs.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tomsem

US-based companies brag about laying people off. It supports the stock price.

I don't think so. Seen any examples of a company bragging about it?
It's true that if a company is being pressured to cut bloat, they might point to layoffs to show how aggressive they are being in reducing costs, but they don't brag. they always act all unhappy about it and talk about what an unfortunate but necessary step it was.

It doesn't seem to me that they are blaming anyone (who would they blame? they are one of the major ebook publishers), just saying print sales are down and they have to cut distribution costs.

Their dispute this year over ebook pricing with Amazon is likely where they will place some blame.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ApK

They have no tears to dry. They are giddy that they can lay people off and blame it on someone else. Remember, they also sell ebooks, and heaven knows they could use more copy editors, and tech-savvy marketing people and such to capitalize on the 'rise' if they were willing to pay.

They could really use people who actually have a clue when it comes to making eBooks.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by tomsem

US-based companies brag about laying people off. It supports the stock price.

I didn't know it was quite that bad. But the idea of a "redundancy package" for unionized book warehouse workers does sound a wee bit alien to American ears.

eReading has meant more jobs at Foxconn, semiconductor companies, and eInk, among others. It means fewer jobs in logging, paper-making, printing, retailing, and, yes, materials handling.

All in all, I wish executives would spend their time improving products instead of mergers and acquisitions. But I think that fewer warehouse jobs does have to be part of the eBook revolution, mergers or not.

[John F]

Originally Posted by tomsem

US-based companies brag about laying people off. It supports the stock price.

...

Could you provide some links showing the bragging? Thank you.