Marks and Spencer is to cut 12% of its in-store workforce, along with some head office and regional roles, as online sales surge by nearly 40%.
The latest round of 7000 job cuts come just weeks after the Elite RXUK Top500 research retailer announced 950 redundancies.
The retailer, however, reports that online remains strong seeing growth of 38.9% in the 19 weeks to 8 August compared with the year before, with clothing and home revenues down by 49.5% and food by 1.1%. The company stressed that, while sales in-store have been hit hard, they are ahead of the scenario initially predicted by the retailer back in March.
M&S says that many of the redundancies will be voluntary or through retirement, while new jobs are being created as it invests further in online and delivery. It has also said that its streamlining plan – Never the same again – is now reaching a conclusion and the company is increasingly managing to work more flexibly, moving staff between departments.
Chief executive Steve Rowe commented: “These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs.”
M&S’s latest round of job cuts brings the total number of retail redundancies in the UK due to coronavirus to around 30,000.
