Waitrose owner John Lewis Partnership has slashed the number of workers on its customer service team, leaving hundreds of service employees facing redundancy.
After a 17-year partnership, the John Lewis Partnership – which owns both Waitrose and John Lewis – is understood to be cutting the number of staff it employs from its customer service provider Foundever, reported The Telegraph.
As a result, the current team of over 1,000 workers in the partnership will be reduced to approximately 200 employees, with the retailer adding that while it will try and find jobs for staff, redundancy will be inevitable for others.
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The John Lewis partnership’s own in-house customer service, which was bolstered over the festive period, will also be reduced and will return to pre-Christmas size.
The new job cuts follow the business announcement that it is slashing up to 11,000 jobs over the next five years as part of its turnaround plan, following a difficult year for the Waitrose owner.
Last month chairman Dame Sharon White revealed wider plans for the partnership’s turnaround, including all Waitrose employees receiving customer service training for the first time, following the supermarket facing criticism over worsening customer service in its supermarkets.
