COVID JOBS BLOODBATH

135,000 facing axe amid fear of ‘economic Armageddon’

THE scale of the Covid-19 jobs bloodbath has been laid bare as a Mail audit found 135,000 jobs in Britain are facing the axe.

Analysis of the threat of redundancies since the virus took hold has revealed 230,000 jobs are set to go both here and abroad at more than 100 of Britain’s biggest firms.

The lay-offs continued yesterday as WH Smith announced it would cull 1,500 staff, mostly at train stations and airports, due to a collapse in the number of commuters and holidaymakers.

Clothing chain M&Co will shut 47 stores and shed 380 jobs after going bust in April, while bookmaker William Hill said 119 of its betting shops will shut due to a lack of customers.

Last night it also emerged that about 1,500 staff at hotels managed by LGH in England and Scotland could lose their jobs. Its hotels include Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Hallmark.

It follows announcements from Pizza Express, Currys PC World, Hays Travel and DW Sports, which are slashing up to 4,470 jobs between them.

The scale of job losses will intensify the pressure on the Government to get Britain back to work and to toughen the message to employers and staff.

Many cuts have been partly blamed on the gradual withdrawal of the furlough scheme. And MPs warned there will be more job cuts at smaller firms and called for more to be done.

Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘It’s outrageous that people are still being told they shouldn’t go back to work. If they don’t go back to work, economic Armageddon will hit Britain and with it will come swathes of unemployment leading to even more lives being lost.’

Analysis found that, of large firms that have disclosed figures, 22,500 job cuts are in retail, 18,100 in restaurants, and 21,600 in travel and airlines.

WH Smith boss Carl Cowling said: ‘I regret that this will have an impact on a significant number of colleagues... we will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time.’