Oxford University Press in the U.K. is the midst of laying off 113 employees, primarily in its education and English-language teaching divisions. The report, which first appeared in The Bookseller, indicates that there are also redundancies coming in the academic and technology teams, as well as in operations.
Asked for clarification, Ella Percival, head of corporate affairs at OUP, said they could only share the same statement that had been previously available to the press: "Like any organization, we constantly adapt to changes within our markets. We have proposed some organizational changes which affect a small proportion of our overall workforce. We are currently undergoing a collective consultation process, and are working closely with impacted colleagues to support them during this time."
The Bookseller reports having seen an internal OUP post that said proposed changes to the organization were necessary and the proposed layoffs "reflect the need to further refine and optimize its structure."
The news comes following last year's layoff of 20 employees in the U.S., including its entire U.S./North America design team and U.S. content transformation and standards team.
The publisher maintains U.S. operations in New York and North Carolina and has more than 5,000 employees worldwide.
