Penguin Random House leads path to diversity, makes its workforce demographic public

Publishing giant Penguin Random House has come forward, and in an attempt to introduce more transparency are sharing their workforce demographic

The list will be updated annually. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Yesterday, the Booker shortlist was announced and was hailed by many as the most diverse list. Among the six shortlists, there were four writers of colour. And now publishing houses are looking for diversity and inclusion. Publishing giant Penguin Random House has come forward in this regard, and in an attempt to introduce more transparency have shared their workforce demographic on social media.

In a series of tweets, they stated that the data, hitherto private, has now been made public. “At Penguin Random House, we recognise that in order to publish the widest array of voices, our publishing teams must reflect the diverse communities of readers we serve. Greater representation in our workforce is one of our most urgent priorities.

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To this end, we are sharing our workforce demographics in order to track and measure our progress toward our goal of reflecting the racial and ethnic makeup of American society. This data—with a focus on the racial and ethnic composition of our company—is now public on our website. On this page, you can also read about the steps we are taking to recruit and hire a more diverse workforce and see our company’s approach to diversity and inclusion. We know we have great strides to make: our commitment to a more diverse and inclusive workplace has never been more important,” read their tweets, adding that “it will be updated annually to show our progress, keeping us accountable to ourselves and the public.”

At Penguin Random House, we recognize that in order to publish the widest array of voices, our publishing teams must reflect the diverse communities of readers we serve. Greater representation in our workforce is one of our most urgent priorities. [1/5]

— Penguin Random House 🐧🏠📚 (@penguinrandom) September 15, 2020

To this end, we are sharing our workforce demographics in order to track and measure our progress toward our goal of reflecting the racial and ethnic makeup of American society. [2/5]

— Penguin Random House 🐧🏠📚 (@penguinrandom) September 15, 2020

This data—with a focus on the racial and ethnic composition of our company—is now public on our website. On this page, you can also read about the steps we are taking to recruit and hire a more diverse workforce and see our company’s approach to diversity and inclusion. [3/5]

— Penguin Random House 🐧🏠📚 (@penguinrandom) September 15, 2020

We know we have great strides to make: our commitment to a more diverse and inclusive workplace has never been more important. [4/5]

— Penguin Random House 🐧🏠📚 (@penguinrandom) September 15, 2020

In the interest of transparency, our workforce data will be updated annually to show our progress, keeping us accountable to ourselves and the public. https://t.co/ChowOlmPf6 [5/5]

— Penguin Random House 🐧🏠📚 (@penguinrandom) September 15, 2020

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