John Lewis and Waitrose are planning to cut 1,000 store jobs as part of the group’s wider drive to restructure the business to improve performance and cement its long-term future.
The latest move involves simplifying its store management structure, although it hopes to find new roles in the business for store managers losing their jobs. It will also look to minimise compulsory job cuts by offering voluntary redundancy to affected staff.
A spokesperson for the John Lewis Partnership said: “We have announced to our partners our intention to simplify our management structures in Waitrose and John Lewis stores, which will allow us to reinvest in what matters most to our customers.”
The cuts, which work out at nearly three management roles per store, will reduce the number of layers between its most senior leaders and non-management shop floor staff. It will instead invest in customer service roles and visual merchandising to “make our shops look their best to entice customers”.
The group’s turnaround plan is aiming to cut costs by £300m a year by 2022 to free up cash to invest in growth areas of the business such as online. Hundreds of jobs have been lost in the business over the last year after the closure of underperforming John Lewis shops and an overhaul of its head office operations.
The latest store management changes reflect similar cost-cutting moves taken by retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons in recent times.
