Almost 60,000 workers now facing redundancy day after Rishi Sunak’s ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ mini-Budget
ALMOST 60,000 workers face redundancy just a day after Rishi Sunak's mini-Budget promised to focus on "jobs, jobs jobs".
Since March, 57,702 jobs have either been lost or put at risk as a result of store closures or major cut backs at high street retailers, manufacturers, airlines, and restaurants chains.
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In the past 24 hours alone, almost 10,000 workers found out their jobs may be axed, with 4,000 cuts announced at Boots and 1,300 potential losses at John Lewis as both retailers announce store closures today.
Meanwhile, Rolls Royce has today admitted 3,000 UK workers have signed-up for voluntary redundancy after it said 9,000 jobs globally were at risk.
Earlier this week, Burger King and Pret a Manager became the latest casualties warning of site closures and job cuts with 2,600 possible roles between them being lost.
In total, around 15,000 restaurant jobs have been put at risk across seven major groups and chains since the start of the crisis.
How many jobs are at risk?
HERE'S how many jobs have either been lost or put at risk since March 2020:
- Airbus - 1,700
- Arcadia - 500
- Boots - 4,000
- British Airways - 12,000
- Burger King - 1,600
- Carluccio's - 1,019
- Chiquito/Frankie & Benny's - 4,500
- Casual Dining Group (Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas) - 1,900
- DHL at Jaguar Land Rover - 2,200
- EasyJet - 4,500
- Go Outdoors - 2,400
- Harrods - 700
- Harveys - 240
- John Lewis - 1,300
- Le Pain Quotidien - 200
- Oasis and Warehouse - 1,800
- P&O Ferries - 1,100
- Pret a Manger - 1,000
- Quiz - 93 jobs
- Rolls Royce - 3,000
- Royal Mail - 2,000
- Ryanair - 3,250
- SSP Group (Upper Crust, Caffe Ritazza) - 5,000
- TM Lewin - 600
- Victoria's Secret - 800
- Virgin Money - 300
Total: 57,702
It follows the chancellor's pledge just yesterday to "protect, support and create jobs".
Mr Sunak said in his statement: "I will never accept unemployment as an unavoidable outcome."
He this week revealed a new £2billion "Kickstart Scheme", which is aimed at finding work for 350,000 jobless 18- 24-year-olds.
He also said businesses that bring back furloughed staff will get a £1,000 bonus per employee from the government.
In addition, Mr Sunak announced one of the largest increases in front line Jobcentre staff today, doubling the number of work coaches to 27,000.
When it comes to helping to helping restaurants, the chancellor revealed that VAT will be slashed from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors in a bid to help companies bounce back.
Mr Sunak also said in his mini-Budget that restaurant and pub meals will be slashed in half from Monday to Wednesday during August.
The chancellor says these combined measures will create a £4billion saving for the hospitality and tourism sectors that will benefit over 150,000 businesses, as well as helping to protect 2.4 million jobs.
What was announced in the mini-Budget?
CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has announced a £30billion "plan for jobs
The changes were announced in what's been described as a "mini-Budget" following the coronavirus.
Here's what the Chancellor announced:
- Young people hired by firms will get their wages subsidised by the government under its £2billion Kickstart Scheme
- House buyers will see stamp duty cut on homes up to £500,000 until next year - we've explained how it will work
- Households will get £5,000 in energy saving vouchers to help them insulate their homes - here's what you need to know
- Businesses will be given a £1,000 bonus for each employee they bring back from furlough
- Pubs and restaurant bills will be slashed by £10 a head in August
- VAT will be cut from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry
These industries have struggled during lockdown with pubs, restaurants and cafes only allowed to reopen on July 4 in England.
In Northern Ireland, these establishments were allowed to open from July 3, while in Scotland, beer gardens could reopen from July 6 and indoor restaurants can go back to business from July 15.
Pubs and restaurants in Wales are due to reopen from July 13.
Below are some of the major firms to have announced closures and job losses since March 2020.
Boots - 4,000 jobs cut
Boots has today confirmed it is set to axe more than 4,000 jobs and shut 48 of its opticians branches.
The job cuts will affect around 7 per cent of the company's workforce, and will particularly hit workers in its Nottingham support office.
It will also affect some deputy and assistant manager, beauty adviser and customer adviser roles across its stores.
He said: "We don't want to lose any [jobs]. We try very hard not to, but one's got to assume somewhere between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the restaurants might not be able to survive.
"It's not just us - I think this applies to everyone out there in our industry."
Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia - 1,900 jobs lost
More than 1,900 jobs are set to be cut at Belgo, Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas.
The restaurants' owner, the Casual Dining Group, said this month that it would shutter 91 of its 250 sites after calling in administrators in May.
Carluccio's - 1,019 jobs lost
Carluccio's fell into administration in March, after being on the edge of collapse when it was forced to close branches due to the coronavirus crisis.
The Italian food chain, which had 71 branches and around 1,800 employees, appointed FRP Advisory as its administrator.
FRP Advisory ended up selling 31 Carluccio's restaurants to Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG), which also owns Ed's Easy Diner, in a move that saved more than 800 jobs.
But around 40 restaurants closed for good, which left 1,019 staff without jobs.
Chiquito and Frankie & Benny's - 4,500 jobs at risk
Chiquito's owner, The Restaurant Group, called in administrators at the end of March when it confirmed 61 of its 80 restaurants would not open again.
It is believed around 1,500 jobs were lost as a result.
In June, The Restaurant Group then said it was planning to close a further 125 sites - putting 3,000 jobs at risk.
The closures are expected across its Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito's, Coast to Coast, Garfunkel's, Filling Station, Firejacks, and Joe's Kitchen brands - although exact sites have yet to be confirmed.
Can I be made redundant if I'm on furlough?
EVEN though furlough is designed to keep workers employed, unfortunately it doesn't protect you from being made redundant.
But it doesn't affect your redundancy pay rights if you are let go from your job amid the coronavirus crisis.
Your employer should still carry out a fair redundancy process.
You will be entitled to be consulted on the redundancy lay-off first and to receive a statutory redundancy payment, as long as you've been working somewhere for at least two years.
How much you're entitled to depends on your age and length of service, although this is capped at 20 years. You'll get:
- Half a week’s pay for each full year you were under 22,
- One week’s pay for each full year you were 22 or older, but under 41,
- One and half week’s pay for each full year you were 41 or older.
Sadly, you won't be entitled to a payout if you've been working for your employer for fewer than two years.
There should be a period of collective consultation as well as time for individual ones if your employer wants to make 20 or more employees redundant within 90 days or each other.
You are also entitled to appeal the decision by claiming unfair dismissal within three months of being let go.
If you're made redundant after your company has gone into administration you can claim redundancy pay .
This would leave the Group with 160 outlets, of which around 85 are still at risk if rent reductions and revised lease terms can't be agreed on.
But the Group's 150 airport concessions and pub operations, as well as its around 150 Wagamama branches are unaffected.
John Lewis - 1,300 jobs at risk
John Lewis revealed today it is permanently closing eight of its stores, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.
The list includes two travel hub shops at Heathrow and St Pancras, four At Home shops in Croydon, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth and two full size department stores in Birmingham and Watford.
A consultation process will now follow, with John Lewis saying it will make "every effort" to find new roles for affected staff who want to stay in the company.
Pret a Manger - 1,000 jobs at risk
Sandwich chain Pret a Manger announced this week that it's set to permanently close 30 of its shops, putting at least 1,000 jobs at risk.
It started a consultation process with employees this week with a final decision on job cuts to be made after this.
Pret has 410 shops in the UK, 339 of which have now reopened for takeaway and delivery - customers can now also dine-in at some of its larger sites.
Rolls Royce - 3,000 jobs at risk
Rolls Royce revealed in May that 9,000 jobs were at risk across its global workforce.
But it's today confirmed that 3,000 workers in the UK have expressed interest in voluntary redundancy and early retirement.
It expects around two-thirds of these workers to leave by the end of August.
Upper Crust - 5,000 jobs at risk
Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza owner, SSP Group revealed this month that up to 5,000 jobs are at risk as it expects only 20 per cent of its outlets to have reopened by this autumn.
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It's been particularly badly hit by the coronavirus crisis as many of its branches are in train stations, airports and motorway service stations.
The Group employs 9,000 people in the UK.