Retail giant Marks & Spencer has said it plans to cut around 7,000 jobs over the next three months across stores, regional management and its support centre.
M&S said the plans came after seeing a “material shift” in trade.
During lockdown, the company said it had learnt to work more flexibly, using the same staff to man both the food aisles and the clothing section of the stores. New technology will also allow it to reduce layers of management, M&S said.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said: “In May we outlined our plans to learn from the crisis, accelerate our transformation and deliver a stronger, more agile business in a world in which some customer habits were changed forever.
“Three months on and our Never the Same Again programme is progressing; albeit the outlook is uncertain and we remain cautious.
“As part of our Never The Same Again programme to embed the positive changes in ways of working through the crisis, we are today announcing proposals to further streamline store operations and management structures.
“These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time.”
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