John Lewis Partnership considers cutting 11,000 jobs
The John Lewis Partnership has confirmed that it is looking to make further reductions across its workforce over the next five years.
The news follows a report in the Guardian which said that the partnership is considering cutting up to 11,000 jobs across the period at its head office, Waitrose supermarkets and John Lewis department stores.
According to the newspaper, at least 10% of the partnership’s 76,000 strong workforce could be affected. It also reported that department heads are working on plans and that roles could be reduced over a number of years through redundancies and not replacing staff who leave.
The decision forms part of the partnership’s latest turnaround plan as it looks to bounce back from a £230 million loss.
The partnership told the BBC in a statement: “The John Lewis Partnership has a plan to return to profit, which involves investing heavily to enhance our customer offer, technology, stores and becoming more efficient.
“This is working and performance is improving, but as we have already announced, that sadly means reducing the number of partners we need in our business.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss details and our partners will be the first to know about any changes.”
Last week, it was reported that the partnership had written to staff saying it was cutting the terms of its redundancy package in half. The current terms give workers at the staff owned business two weeks of redundancy pay for every year worked, but from 1 February this will be reduced to one week of pay per year.
