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At least 150,000 jobs have been cut or put at risk at more than 60 major British employers during lockdown, a list compiled by the PA news agency has revealed.
The pace of redundancies has picked up in recent weeks as companies try to figure out if they can afford to take back furloughed staff.
On Thursday, John Lewis and Boots revealed they were planning to part way with thousands of colleagues.
The data shows that nearly 17,000 potential job losses have been announced so far this month, compared to just over 14,000 at the same point in June.
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.
Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady said it was vital that the Government does not stand by while thousands lose their jobs.
“We need fast and targeted action to save livelihoods in badly-hit sectors – like manufacturing, retail, and aviation – before it is too late,” she told PA.
“That’s why the TUC is calling for a National Recovery Council, that brings together unions and businesses to draw up plans for support and recovery. This should include extending the Job Retention Scheme for viable businesses who need longer to recover.
Her comments were echoed by John Phillips, the acting general secretary of the GMB union: “It’s clear that despite warnings, the Government has ploughed through this crisis without any real long-term plan and as these figures show, the results are catastrophic.
“Entire industries are fighting for survival and millions of frontline workers paid less than the real living wage, our economy is well and truly broken.
“We need urgent action on a sector by sector basis and large scale investment in a sustainable industrial strategy.”
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.
HSBC and Virgin Money both paused their pre-Covid redundancy plans when the pandemic began and later resumed the process.
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.
On Thursday, Rolls-Royce confirmed that 3,000 of its UK workforce have applied for voluntary redundancy as part of a previously announced plan to cut 9,000 jobs.
“The job losses are a stark reminder that these are highly-skilled jobs that the UK economy can ill-afford to lose as it faces the economic realities of the post-pandemic world,” Unite union’s national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy said.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new plan to pay a £1,000 bonus to companies who bring back staff from furlough.
The jobs retention bonus will be paid to companies for each employee they continue to pay at least £520 a month until January.
Major potential 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 7 – Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) – 550
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 23 – 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
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