John Lewis sheds 3,800 jobs in cost-cutting drive
JOHN LEWIS has shed 3,800 jobs over the past year as it races to cut costs across its stores.
The number of staff employed by the John Lewis Partnership, which operates department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, fell to 70,500 at the end of January, compared with 74,300 a year earlier, saving the company £26m in employment costs over the year.
The company’s finances also benefited from a decision to suspend 2023’s staff cost of living bonus. The reduction in headcount was largely driven by attrition across the business, as staff who left it were not replaced.
The retailer wants to reduce costs by a further £600m, on top of the £300m it has cut in recent years.
The partnership has been racing to find savings to help turnaround efforts that have started to yield results. In March it had returned to profit for the first time since the pandemic.
The majority of staff changes over the past year were in Waitrose stores.
This followed a shake-up in shift patterns last autumn as the supermarket pushed staff to embrace more flexible hours. Waitrose also unveiled plans to cut night shifts at some stores and offered employees voluntary redundancy packages at others.
John Lewis said an average of 49,600 people were working in the supermarkets over the year to the end of January, compared with an average of 52,700 a year earlier. It has around 10,000 fewer staff than working across the partnership as a whole than in early 2020.
Further cuts to staff numbers are likely as management reportedly considers up to 11,000 redundancies as it would need fewer employees under its turnaround proposals.
It recently revealed it was closing one of its Waitrose delivery warehouses, putting more than 500 jobs at risk.
A spokesman for John Lewis said: “We’re investing significantly in training and development, supporting partners to provide a differentiated experience for customers.”
£600m
Extra cost savings John Lewis Partnership hopes to make on top of the £300m it has cut in recent years