When corona virus effects ripple across the economy, firms across multiple industries are forced to sharply reduce the number of staff to save lots of cash.
John Lewis and Boots became the newest main street brands to announce store closures and job losses because the retail sector struggles with the economic fallout from coronavirus. They have recently announced 5,300 job cuts.
Eight of the department shops out of 50 have been closed by John Lewis, including two of its biggest shops in Watford and Birmingham, with the possible loss of around 1,300 jobs. All four of its smaller At Home-branded locations will close, also as two travel outlets at Heathrow and St Pancras.
Before the pandemic crisis, ‘financially challenged, ‘ shops were closed, the pandemic has accelerated those issues. Before pandemic came into effect, online sales of John Lewis’s was around 40% but it is now expected to be between 60% and 70% both this year and next.
The workforce of Boots is cutting 4,000 jobs or 7% by closing 48 opticians outlets and reducing staff at its head office in Nottingham also as some management and customer service roles in stores.
The company, which has 2,465 stores, said it had been accelerating a restructuring plan Aftersales at its main Boots outlets divide 72%, and sales at Boots Opticians slumped 48% during the coronavirus lockdown on the main street.
Meanwhile, a pointy drop-off in GP visits, because the public avoided putting extra strain on the NHS, led to a discount within the demand for one-off prescriptions and medicines.
Throughout the lockdown, most of the Boots outlets remained open to supply healthcare and pharmacy services, but the firm said footfall had, “dramatically reduced.
Sales across all Boots in The UK outlets were down by 50% within the third quarter and a few 70% at Boots Opticians.
The moves come amid warnings that new economic support from Chancellor Rishi Sunak won’t be enough to prevent many workers from losing their jobs.
Mr. Sunak admitted that he wouldn’t be ready to protect “every single job” because the UK enters a severe recession.
