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John Lewis Hints At More Job Cuts Despite Profits Improving

By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted March 15, 2024

John Lewis Partnership has warned of further job losses despite reporting a return to profitability.

The company owns John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets and has reported pre-tax profits of £56 million.

This was after a big loss of £234 million the previous year.

However, the partnership has decided against distributing a staff bonus for the second consecutive year.

It attributes the decision to ongoing cost-cutting measures, which saw a reduction of "a few hundred" jobs in 2023 as part of an £88 million savings initiative.

Similar cost-cutting efforts are expected for the current year.

John Lewis's new chief executive, Nish Kankiwala, told the PA news agency: "We're looking at all the opportunities as we improve our ways of working and if there is eventually a reduction in roles, then we'll use (staff) attrition in the same way as we have done in the past.

"If there are unfortunately, regrettably, redundancies then we'll talk to our partners first."

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Dame Sharon White, the chair of John Lewis, reiterated that while job losses are expected as the company seeks to improve profitability, no specific targets for job reductions have been set.

The company also shared positive developments, including a 10 percent pay raise for about 45,000 employees scheduled for April.

John Lewis also saw increased customer numbers, with total sales reaching £12.4 billion, a 1 percent rise from the previous year.

Specifically, Waitrose saw a 5 percent increase in sales, attracting a record number of shoppers.

Meanwhile, John Lewis stores experienced a 4 percent decline in sales, with mixed performance across different product categories.

The partnership has plans to refurbish 80 Waitrose supermarkets and launch new branches to improve profit.

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