Redundancy advice calls triple as furlough scheme winds down
Image copyright Getty Images Thousands of firms and employees are seeking redundancy advice as the coronavirus crisis continues to bite into the UK economy.
Conciliation service Acas said calls to its redundancy advice line almost tripled in June and July, as concerns mounted about the government’s job retention scheme winding down.
There has been a spate of redundancies as some firms struggle to stay afloat.
Nearly 4,500 jobs have been cut only a few days into August.
In June and July, calls to the Acas helpline to talk about redundancy rose nearly 170% compared with the same months last year, from more than 12,000 to more than 33,000 calls.
In July, Citizens Advice said it had also seen a surge in demand for redundancy advice.
Acas chief executive Susan Clews said: «At the moment, nearly a third of calls to our helpline are redundancy-related.
«The economic impact of coronavirus, alongside fears around the furlough scheme tapering off, has left many employers and their staff concerned about their future livelihoods.»
The latest figures from the government show 9.6 million jobs – about a third of the private sector workforce – have been furloughed during the pandemic, at a cost of £33.8bn to the Treasury.
Businesses began to pay towards the furlough scheme from the beginning of August, putting more pressure on struggling firms. The scheme ends in October.
Acas recommended that employers should look for alternatives to redundancies, which should be used as a last resort.
These alternatives include consulting staff «on ideas that can help mitigate the financial difficulties that the business may be facing due to coronavirus», such as:
- recruitment freezes
- limits on overtime
- more flexible working to cut down on office costs
- moving employees into other roles.
A number of major employers have announced job cuts since strict coronavirus lockdown rules were announced on 23 March.
According to the Press Association news agency, these include:
August 4: Dixons Carphone – 800
August 4: Pizza Express – 1,100 at risk
August 3: Hays Travel – up to 878
August 3: DW Sports – 1,700 at risk
July 31: Byron – 651
July 30: Pendragon – 1,800
July 29: Waterstones – unknown number of head office roles
July 28: Selfridges – 450
July 27: Oak Furnitureland – 163 at risk
July 23: Dyson – 600 in UK, 300 overseas
July 22: Mears – fewer than 200
July 20: Marks & Spencer – 950 at risk
July 17: Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) – up to 1,200
July 16: Genting – 1,642 at risk
July 16: Burberry – 150 in UK, 350 overseas
July 15: Banks Mining – 250 at risk
July 15: Buzz Bingo – 573 at risk
July 14: Vertu – 345
July 14: DFS – up to 200 at risk
July 9: General Electric – 369
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
June 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 (in second announcement) – «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 – up to 12,000
April 23: Safran Seats – 400
April 23: Meggitt – 1,800 worldwide
April 21: Cath Kidston – 900
April 17: Debenhams – 422
March 31: Laura Ashley – 268
March 30: BrightHouse – 2,400 at risk
March 27: Chiquito – 1,500 at risk.
