John Lewis plans to cut 11,000 jobs after halving redundancy pay
John Lewis Partnership is reportedly planning to axe 11,000 jobs over the next five years after slashing its redundancy pay for employees.
At least 10 per cent of the company’s 76,000 staff could lose their jobs across both John Lewis and Waitrose through redundancies, sources told The Guardian.
The job cuts are mostly expected to hit the group’s head office, supermarkets and department stores.
In March last year, John Lewis warned staff it would have to slash some roles and scrap bonus payments as it attempts to reverse its struggling fortunes amid a lull in customer spending.
The high street stalwart told workers last week that, from 1 February, it is lowering redundancy pay to one week’s pay per year on service.
An internal memo seen by The Telegraph said the company’s current two week policy prevented the firm “from moving as quickly” as it wanted to and the cut will free up cash.
Boss Sharon White put a turnaround strategy in place during the pandemic to boost the flailing business’ profits to £400m in five year. This is now expected to be completed in 2027/28.
John Lewis reported its second-ever full-year loss of £234m in March 2023.
CityAM approached John Lewis Partnership for comment.