High street giant Marks & Spencer is reportedly set to announce a job cuts plan this week which could affect hundreds of workers.
It's the latest retailer to be hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, following John Lewis, Boots and Debenhams which have announced hundreds of job losses in recent months, reports the Mirror.
The brand, which has been on British high streets for more than 135 years, is set to announce plans for redundancies in the coming days, Sky News is reporting.
John Lewis announced earlier this month it will permanently close eight of its stores, putting 1,300 workers at risk, while pharmacy chain Boots has said it plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs – 7% of its workforce – as part of action to mitigate the “significant impact” of Covid-19.
On the news from Marks & Spencer sources are reported to have told Sky News that 'several thousand jobs' were expected to be lost with chief executive Steve Rowe accelerating an ongoing restructuring of the business.
Sky reported that 27,000 M&S employees - out of a total of 78,000 - had been furloughed earlier in the pandemic under the government's programme to discourage companies from laying off workers, although many are now back at work with stores reopening.
