Penguin Books, a division of Pearson, is to cut about 100 jobs, or 10% of its British staff, as part of a restructuring, it said in a statement today.
Pearson, which is also the world's biggest educational publisher and owns the Financial Times, said the cuts were not a direct response to the recession but part of a structural effort to position the business for the future.
Penguin said it would cut the number of titles and reduce costs at Dorling Kindersley and Rough Guides in response to long-term pressure on reference publishing, and would increase its emphasis on digital activities.
It also made a number of management changes in Britain.
'Digital technology is altering the shape of book publishing, creating tremendous new opportunities but also putting unprecedented pressure on our costs and our traditional ways of working,' Penguin Group chairman and CEO John Makinson said.
Penguin employed 4,112 people worldwide on average in 2008. Its underlying sales grew 3% to £925m sterling in 2008, 19% of Pearson's total sales, and adjusted operating profit rose 4% to £93m.
