Waitrose owner the John Lewis Partnership cut 3,800 jobs over the past year, new filings have revealed.
The number of staff working for the Partnership, which includes Waitrose and John Lewis, fell to 70,500 at the end of January, in comparison to 74,300 the year prior, The Telegraph reported.
It is understood that the majority of changes to staff numbers over the past year were in Waitrose stores, following the adjustment of shift patterns last year as the upmarket retailer hoped staff would adopt more flexible hours.
The grocer also set out plans to limit night shifts at some sites and offered staff voluntary redundancy at other stores.
The Partnership said there were 49,600 people on average working in the supermarkets in the year to the end of January, in comparison to an average of 52,700 the year before, and across the entire group, it has around 10,000 less staff than in early 2020.
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The cuts across the business came at the same time the retailer saved around £26m in employment costs over the year and decided not to pay staff a cost-of-living bonus in 2023, despite having done so in 2022.
It is understood that the reduced headcount was largely driven by the Partnership’s decision to not replace staff who left.
In January, the John Lewis Partnership suggested it will reduce roles further, with bosses understood to be considering to cut up to 11,000 jobs as it pushes ahead with its transformation plan.
It comes as the group looks to cut its cost base by an additional £600m, on top of £300m already reduced in recent years.
A spokesman for John Lewis told The Telegraph: “We pride ourselves on the award-winning service that our partners provide to customers. More than one million new customers shopped with our brands last year.
“We’re investing significantly in training and development, supporting partners to provide a differentiated experience for customers.”
It comes as Waitrose has been accused of cutting redundancy pay-outs for 500 warehouse staff at risk of losing their jobs.
At the start of the year, bosses at the John Lewis Partnership also revealed plans to halve redundancy pay-outs, effectively making it cheaper for workers to be laid off.
