Publisher Macmillan cuts 64 jobs

Another book publisher is cutting jobs: Macmillan, where authors include Thomas Friedman, Rick Atkinson and Janet Evanovich, is eliminating 64 positions, just under 4% of its workforce.

Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Thomas Nelson also have announced layoffs in recent weeks. Staff reductions are likely at Random House Inc., which is undergoing a significant consolidation. Other publishers, including Macmillan, have frozen wages or deferred raises.

Macmillan Chief Executive John Sargent said that it was “necessary to adjust our company and become more efficient in the face of the market we are dealing with.” He added that there would be no cuts in the budget for acquiring books.

In a move Sargent said he had been looking into for months, Macmillan will combine its seven children’s companies into a single division, the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, effective Jan. 1.

Macmillan also plans reductions through a “centralized business and production group for its adult and children’s publishing companies,” according to a memo Sargent wrote.