What was once a great place to work has become untenable due to myopic and ineffective "leadership." Quality of product, both editorially and in production value, has gone down to lower than that of a pulp paperback house. Prodcution has been off-shored to India, but with no mind to quality or vendor management. Instead, it's like a sausage factory now. Money is spent on change programs that elicit no real or effective changes. Management in the UK is very top-heavy, and has no communication with US office. Divisions of company are forced to work together on projects despite very different sales models, all in aid of lean spending. But, in the end, the divisions still do what they want. Senior management in Academic division acts as if it's a playground, always trying to one-up each other or get one over on the other, making those in back office jobs live a nightmare. There is NO work-life balance in any position, which is rich given the abominably low pay and continued trimming of benefits as a cost-cutting measure. HR bullies mid-level managers into hiring inexperienced staff (if there's no hiring freeze on) in order to save money, and is sexist, homophobic, racist, etc., yet functions solely to prevent lawsuits on the part of employees who have legitimate complaints about things like sexual predation. IT is just as ineffective as HR, as it's been outsourced to a company via a cheap contract with no quality assurance or vendor management. Layoffs several years ago forced out the best talent in the US because it was easier than letting go deadwood in the UK office due to consultation laws. "Globalization" is far from that as it's about UK ways being best, despite the fact they often are not the best (though sometimes they are). Mid-level managers in the UK who've never traveled to the US not understanding how things work, or the marketplace, are allowed to run roughshod, and never held accountable for their decisions. Many managers are responsible for functions on both sides of the Atlantic, but travel has been curtailed to nil. That is unless you work for the right senior manager, which is exemplary of the entire budgeting process across the Academic division. It's about who you work for or who you know (or who doesn't like you in some cases), and not the function(s) you provide to the larger business. Talent is leaving left, right, and center, to get away from the toxic community that has become OUP globally (at least in the US and UK).
