Struggling publisher cuts divi and 3,000 jobs

PEARSON is axing 3,000 jobs and slashing its dividend in an effort to revive its ailing business. The cut, which represents 9pc of the education publisher’s global workforce, will affect back office operations including human resources, technology and finance as well as its higher education business in North America. Pearson has also cut its interim dividend from 18p to 5p, and announced plans for a £300m share buyback. The company did not disclose how many of the job cuts will be in the UK, but a spokesman said the move will make the firm more ‘streamlined’ and efficient. Pearson saw more than £1.9bn wiped off its market value in January after it admitted demand for printed books in America, its largest market, had ‘gone off a cliff’. It has been hit as students switch from textbooks to cheaper online alternatives – a move which contributed to a loss of £2.5bn in 2016 – the biggest in its history. Pearson’s jobs cull was announced alongside its firsthalf results, which saw a 1pc rise in revenue to £1bn in the six months to the end of June, with profit coming in at £16m versus a £286m loss in the same period last year.