John Lewis and Waitrose plan to cut 1,000 jobs

As part of shake-up to store management, and changing shopping habits, John Lewis and Waitrose plan to cut 1,000 jobs. It comes as more buyers are shifting to online purchases, especially since the pandemic and lockdown.

The move follows announcement of closure of a further eight John Lewis stores earlier this year, which put nearly 1,500 jobs at risk.

John Lewis, which owns supermarket Waitrose and the department store chain, is attempting to cut their costs.

The retailer wants to avoid instances of compulsory redundancy, and will help affected staff find new roles.

A spokesperson for John Lewis says the proposed job cuts “will allow us to reinvest in what matters most to our customers”. Investment will go into customer service roles and “visual merchandising”. The retailer is keen to “make shops look their best to entice customers”. The cuts will also result in a restructuring of employees, reducing “the number of layers between our most senior leaders and non-management” shop floor workers.

Cuts, closures and the yet to come

The coronavirus pandemic had a huge impact on many businesses in the retail sector, helping to speed up the trend of people moving towards shopping online instead of in physical stores. In order to adapt to last year’s boom in online sales, John Lewis put a plan in place, which included closing eight stores. These closures accumulated job losses of 1,300.

Then this year, it announced the closure of eight more department stores, following reports of a hefty annual loss due to the pandemic.

Currently, there are 34 John Lewis stores and 331 Waitrose shops throughout the UK.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the firm announced its plans to provide them with a stable long term income. Over the next few years, John Lewis intends to build 10,000 rental homes.

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