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More than 60 high-profile UK companies have made 150,000 jobs at risk since the lockdown, according to new figures.
On a dark day today, unemployment crisis hit the retail sector, with Boots and John Lewis announcing nearly 5,000 job cuts between them.
Nearly 17,000 potential job losses have been announced so far this month, and overall around 75,000 job losses were announced last month.
The list contains only some of the biggest job cuts announced so far, and is likely to have captured only a small part of the devastation suffered by the UK economy.
It also fails to take into account thousands more positions that are likely to have been lost at smaller organisations.
However, some British employers have released figures which include the impact on their global operations, where the UK arm may not take all of the predicted hit.
Although many jobs will have been lost as a direct result of the economic squeeze forced by the Covid-19 lockdown, thousands of employees were already facing job uncertainty regardless of the pandemic.
The Office for National Statistics has suggest that 600,000 UK workers lost their job in May alone, while vacancies slumped to a record low.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned this week that the UK’s unemployment rate could hit as high as 14.8%.
Experts also worry that much worse could be ahead as the furlough scheme is wound down from August before it ends in October.
Major job losses announced since 23 March:
July 9 – Eurostar – unknown number
July 9 – Boots – 4,000
July 9 – John Lewis – 1,300 at risk
July 9- Burger King – 1,600 at risk
July 6 – Pret a Manger – 1,000 at risk
July 2 – Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) – 1,909
July 1 – SSP (owns Upper Crust) – 5,000 at risk
July 1 – Arcadia (owns TopShop) – 500
July 1 – Harrods – 700
July 1 – Virgin Money – 300
June 30 – Airbus – 1,700
June 30 – TM Lewin – 600
June 30 – Smiths Group – “some job losses”
June 25 – Royal Mail – 2,000
June 24 – Jet2 – 102
June 24 – Swissport – 4,556
June 24 – Crest Nicholson – 130
June 23 – Shoe Zone – unknown number of jobs in head office
May 19 – Aer Lingus – 500
June 17 – HSBC – unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
June 15 – Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100
June 15 – Travis Perkins – 2,500
June 12 – Le Pain Quotidien – 200
June 11 – Heathrow – at least 500
June 11 – Bombardier – 600
June 11 – Johnson Matthey – 2,500
June 11 – Centrica – 5,000
June 10 – Quiz – 93
June 10 – The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny’s) – 3,000
June 10 – Monsoon Accessorise – 545
June 10 – Everest Windows – 188
June 8 – BP – 10,000 worldwide
June 8 – Mulberry – 375
June 5 – Victoria’s Secret – 800 at risk
June 5 – Bentley – 1,000
June 4 – Aston Martin – 500
June 4 – Lookers – 1,500
May 29 – Belfast International Airport – 45
May 28 – Debenhams – “hundreds” of jobs
May 28 – EasyJet – 4,500 worldwide
May 26 – McLaren – 1,200
May 22 – Carluccio’s – 1,000
May 21 – Clarks – 900
May 20 – Rolls-Royce – 9,000
May 20 – Bovis Homes – unknown number
May 19 – Ovo Energy – 2,600
May 19 – Antler – 164
May 15 – JCB – 950 at risk
May 13 – Tui – 8,000 worldwide
May 12 – Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) – 450
May 11 – P&O Ferries – 1,100 worldwide
May 5 – Virgin Atlantic – 3,150
May 1 – Ryanair – 3,000 worldwide
April 30 – Oasis Warehouse – 1,800
April 29 – WPP – unknown number
April 28 – British Airways – 12,000
April 23 – Saffran Seats – 400
April 233 – Meggitt – 1,800 worldwide
April 21 – Cath Kidston – 900
April 17 – Debenhams – 422
March 21 – Laura Ashley – 268
March 30 – BrightHouse – 2,400 at risk
March 27 – Chiquito – 1,500 at risk
