Hospitality jobs axed by pub and hotel chains

UP TO 6,000 jobs are being axed at Premier Inn owner Whitbread as the group warned the coronavirus crisis will continue to hammer demand.

The group said the cuts would impact 18 per cent of the total workforce across its hotel and restaurant brands, which also includes the Beefeater pubs and Brewers Fayre chains.

It is hoping a ‘significant proportion’ of the job cuts will be made through voluntary redundancy and lowered contracted hours for some staff.

Whitbread said the plans come as demand is set to remain subdued in the short to medium-term and with the government’s furlough scheme coming to an end next month.

The job losses also come on top of cuts to reduce its head office workforce by up to a fifth, impacting around 150 jobs.

Alison Brittain, chief executive of Whitbread, said: ‘With demand for travel remaining subdued, we are now having to make some very difficult decisions.’

The Wetherspoon pub chain also said it had written to its 1,000 airport staff to warn them that up to 450 jobs are at risk of redundancy.