Marks & Spencer will axe 950 staff in the first wave of a cull that will hit thousands of workers.
Today’s announcement comes after John Lewis and Boots have already shed thousands of staff in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with at least 64,000 jobs currently at risk across the country.
Britain’s high streets have been hammered by the crisis as millions of shoppers move to online shopping, and experts predict there will eventually be 250,000 redundancies across the sector.
Shops are now allowed to welcome customers into stores but millions are still staying away, with footfall down 65 per cent last month compared to last year and sales tumbling by 48 per cent over the past three months.
However, there are signs of hope in the wider job market, with more than a million vacancies still being advertised last week, as experts pointed to a significant increase in positions for IT professionals.
Hundreds of job losses are expected at M&S as part of an ongoing restructuring plan which could ultimately see thousands of positions go.