John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is allegedly in talks to cut staff numbers by around 10% over the next five years.
Up to 11,000 of the retail group’s 76,000-strong workforce could be let go to help cut costs, according to The Guardian.
These losses are rumoured to cover head office, supermarkets and department stores, sources told the publication.
They would include redundancies and not replacing vacant positions.
JLP, which is the parent company of John Lewis and Waitrose, is owned by its workers through a trust, who are known as Partners.
A JLP spokesperson did not confirm numbers but told Cosmetics Business: “The John Lewis Partnership has a plan to return to profit.
“Which involves investing heavily to enhance our customer offer, technology, stores and becoming more efficient.
“This is working and performance is improving, but as we have already announced, that sadly means reducing the number of Partners we need in our business.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss details and our Partners will be the first to know about any changes.”
Financial struggles are said to be behind the move after JLP announced its second-ever full year loss in March 2023, totalling £234m.
On announcing the results, the company warned about potential job cuts as part of its plan to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
The group has already scrapped its staff bonus for the year and closed 16 department stores and several supermarkets.
Last week, JLP announced it was slashing its redundancy terms in half too.
The company is now only offering one week of pay per year of service instead of two for anyone being made redundant from 1 February 2024.
