Banking behemoth Goldman Sachs is cutting 1% of its 39,100-strong workforce, or just under 400 jobs. The cuts will take place across the firm, affecting no specific positions more than others, and the news comes after the bank paused layoffs in April to reduce uncertainty for its workforce during the pandemic.
Luxury British car manufacturer Bentley commemorated its centenary last year, but 2020 hasn’t brought an awful lot to celebrate. In June the company announced that it would be laying off 1,000 of its 4,200 workers as production ground to a halt. Bosses are initially looking for those redundancies to be made on a voluntary basis, offering financial help and career guidance. Bentley has warned that there could be further lay-offs in the future.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has also been forced to make lay-offs, and at the beginning of May the company announced that 3,000 people were going to lose their jobs. Since the statement, the jobs of 1,800 UK cabin crew and 260 pilots have been safeguarded in return for temporary pay cuts, but many redundancies will still go ahead. Reports suggest that the company isn’t expecting a full recovery to pre-pandemic passenger numbers until the summer of 2022 at the earliest. Staff taking unpaid leave is another measure imposed by the airline as it tries to survive what is possibly the biggest challenge the travel industry has ever faced.
P&O Ferries relies on passengers needing to travel from the UK to Ireland and mainland Europe, but as non-essential travel tailed off, so did the ferry company’s income. As demand has plummeted, P&O Ferries has been forced to cut 1,100 jobs, which will leave the company with around 3,000 employees, many of whom are currently being paid through the UK Government’s furlough scheme. However, since the announcement the company has recently proposed an internal Job Retention Scheme, which it claims could help reduce redundancies by paying employees 60% of their salaries between November 2020 and April 2021.
In May Formula 1 giant McLaren announced plans to let go of 1,200 members of staff as the racing season and car production came to a screeching stop because of coronavirus. That's more than a quarter of its 4,000-strong workforce. This round of job losses comes before a likely industry-wide string of redundancies following the vote by race teams to have lower budget caps starting next year.
US retail giant Target has more than 280 sites across Australia, but in May it announced that 167 of those stores would be closed or converted into outlets of its fellow American retailer Kmart. Up to 1,300 jobs are at risk if the restructuring goes to plan, and more than half of the sprawling Target network would disappear. While changes are still being negotiated, most of the jobs at risk will be safe until 2021. The company hopes that staff will be re-employed in new stores, but the announcement brings unwelcome uncertainty during the pandemic.
Renowned for its memorable Christmas adverts and selling everything from kettles to stuffed penguin toys, Britain’s largest employee-owned business John Lewis has been one of the UK's most successful department stores since 1864. The company was already suffering this year after a difficult Christmas period, and the coronavirus pandemic has made things worse. Eight of its 50 stores will not reopen, closures which will put 1,300 jobs at risk.
As the pandemic forced fashion retailer H&M's stores to close, sales figures have taken a big hit and jobs are in the balance. It let go of 1,300 members of staff in Australia when it closed all 49 of its stores in the country in early April. At the beginning of October the Swedish fashion giant, which owns brands COS, Monki and Weekday, announced it would be closing 250 of its stores worldwide, although it has not yet announced which brands and locations will be affected.
Short-term accommodation leasing site Airbnb has revolutionised the way we travel, but as restrictions on movement caused most people to stay at home, the site saw a huge downturn in its bookings. A quarter of the company’s 7,500 staff have been laid off and plans to float on the stock market were moved back to December. The business was valued at $31 billion (£24.5bn) in 2019, but the last couple of months have likely wiped off a significant chunk of Airbnb's worth.
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Car manufacturing is typically a lucrative business in ordinary times, but COVID-19 has quickly caused finances to dry up. Fiat Chrysler has cut 2,000 contract workers as projects have been put on ice – factories were forced to shut, events have been cancelled, and the appetite for buying is gone. The company has since promised no further job cuts or relocations in return for a state loan of €6.3 billion ($7.1bn/£5.6bn) from the Italian Government, which was confirmed on 25 June.
Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) is one of New York’s best-known catering companies, and it owns eateries including the Union Square Café and Daily Provisions. Around 80% of the company’s staff were laid off when trade disappeared, which has left 2,000 people out of work both from the food outlets themselves and the corporate offices. USHG suggested that those who have been made redundant re-apply for their positions once the worst of the pandemic is over and the hospitality industry is getting back on its feet.
Hilton Hotels can be found in 118 countries, but as the COVID-19 outbreak quickly became a pandemic, holidaymakers and business travellers were forced to stay at home, leaving guest rooms empty. In June, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. announced that 22% of its corporate workforce – the equivalent of 2,100 people – would be laid off. The brand prides itself on being one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing hospitality companies, but like most other businesses in the industry it is being forced to cut back to weather the pandemic storm.
Travis Perkins is the UK’s biggest building merchant, owning chains of supply stores including Wickes, Toolstation and Tile Giant. While many have taken up home decorating and DIY projects as a means of passing time in lockdown, it hasn’t been enough to mitigate the huge slump in sales of materials as builders have been stuck at home. Anticipating that the pandemic and subsequent recession will affect the sector at least into next year, Travis Perkins is closing 165 stores and has made 2,500 members of staff redundant, which represents 9% of its total workforce.
As the auto industry falters, so do the companies that provide car parts. Johnson Matthey is a chemicals company that produces catalytic converters – many of which are sitting unneeded as a result of the pandemic. The business of car manufacturing has been shrouded in uncertainty and, as further instability looms, Johnson Matthey is set to make 2,500 employees redundant over the next three years.
Canadian jet and rail manufacturer Bombardier has seen industry-wide sales drop by 30% compared to last year, meaning that jobs need to be cut to compensate for the financial loss. The company will make 2,500 workers redundant as it shrinks its numbers to match the lack of demand in the current market. While most of the cuts will be made in its home country Canada, 500 workers at Bombardier's Northern Ireland operations also lost their jobs last month.
The simple pleasure of somebody else doing the cooking is one that many have missed during lockdowns across the world, not least by those who profit from our love of eating out. The Restaurant Group is the British company behind family favourites including Frankie & Benny’s, Wagamama, and Chiquito, and a lack of trade over the last couple of months is forcing the hospitality business to shut 125 of its sites, while one in 10 restaurants won't now reopen until 2021. The huge number of closures will cause an even bigger number of job losses, with 3,000 people set to be left unemployed by the move.
In May low-cost UK airline easyJet announced that around 30% of its employees would be left jobless due to the coronavirus outbreak, which amounts to 4,500 workers. However, since then the airline has negotiated with the British Airline Pilots Association to offer part-time contracts to flight crew, as a result of which 60 employees opted for voluntary redundancy and 1,500 went part-time. This still leaves 3,000 potential job cuts on the table, however. The airline's bases at London Southend, London Stansted and Newcastle have all been closed.
Virgin Australia, part of Virgin Australia Holdings, went into administration in April due to coronavirus. The company employs 9,000 people, although in August the airline announced that at least 3,000 employees would be losing their jobs, despite the fact it has managed to secure emergency funding and begin to offer a limited number of flights again. In June Virgin Australia accepted American private equity firm Bain Capital's offer to buy the airline, while just this week it was announced that the Queensland government was investing AU$200 million ($143m/£110m) in it. The new owner has a long way to go to sort out its finances though, which includes AU$6.8 billion ($4.86bn/£3.76bn) of debt.
The world’s best-known touring circus has been forced to cut 3,500 performers from its ranks as the entertainment industry has shut during the pandemic. Cancelled shows have brought the Cirque du Soleil's revenue to zero as the outbreak has prevented any type of large gathering, and the company had reduced its employees by a staggering 95% as a result. The redundancies come as part of a sale and investment solicitation process with its secured lenders.
Billion-dollar make-up brand Sephora let go of 3,754 part-time and seasonal staff across the US as closed stores caused a sharp decline in sales. In April, employees were reportedly dismissed via conference call, while the 9,000 remaining members of staff were paid until stores started to reopen at the end of May. As part of Sephora's restructuring plan, announced in July, the company said it would be cutting a further 117 jobs, although it was adding 132 new full-time roles, with former employees being given the opportunity to apply for these roles.
Allstate, the fourth largest car insurance company in the US, announced at the end of September that it would be cutting 3,800 jobs in claims, sales, service and support functions, as part of a company revamp which began last year. The plan aims to increase growth of the firm's home and car insurance business, a key element of which is cutting down on costs by streamlining and restructuring. The cuts amount to around 8% of the existing workforce.
While Macy’s gradually reopens its doors as lockdown eases across the US, 3,900 members of staff won’t be returning to their posts at the department store. The retailer had already announced 125 store closures and 2,000 redundancies earlier this year following a disappointing Christmas period, but the COVID-19 outbreak has necessitated thousands more job cuts just months later. The redundancies will be made to administrative and managerial staff, while the company will be depending on retail workers to bolster sales and entice as many customers as possible.
UK-based health and beauty retailer and pharmacy Boots (owned by US company Walgreens) has announced that it will be cutting 4,000 members of its head office and store staff. Unlike most retailers, the company was able to continue serving customers in person as it provided essential medical products throughout lockdown. Sadly, sales haven't been enough to prevent Boots from struggling and, as a result, 7% of its employees across the UK will be losing their jobs.
It isn’t just Virgin Australia that is struggling, as its global equivalent Virgin Atlantic has also been desperately seeking cash through government loans. More than 3,500 members of staff have already been cut by the international company this year, and a further 1,150 job cuts were announced in September. The airline has also forecast when air traffic will return to pre-pandemic levels, but it’s even bleaker than Ryanair, as it believes three years is a more realistic timeframe.
The world’s largest telecommunications company AT&T is cutting 3,400 jobs across technicians and clerical workers in America, on top of 1,300 retail job cuts, as 250 stores close. The phone and broadband provider has suggested that it will redistribute staff where possible, and it is technicians who will be hit hardest. AT&T has stated that closures and redundancies were already in the pipeline for the company, which had cut more than 37,000 jobs across the US in 2018 and 2019, despite massive cuts to the company's corporate tax rate which went into effect in December 2017.
Another European airline in this round-up, Norwegian Air has cut 4,700 positions, as four of its subsidiaries have already filed for bankruptcy. The company has since had to hand over control to the Norwegian government in order to unlock a support package and avoid bankruptcy itself. The budget airline has agreed to a 10 billion kroner ($1bn/£840m) debt-for-equity plan that will see majority ownership go to the airline's creditors, which means that the airline will receive a further 2.7 billion kroner ($283m/£226m) on top of the 300 million kroner ($31.4m/£25.2m) cash injection already allocated to the airline.
The SSP Group owns 2,800 catering outlets across 35 countries, including Upper Crust, Caffè Ritazza, and Haven. Depleted footfall in airports and train stations caused the company's sales in April and May to drop by 95%, prompting the group to announce 5,000 UK-based job cuts both at outlets and the company’s head office.
Centrica is an international energy services company in charge of companies including British Gas in the UK, Bord Gáis in Ireland and Direct Energy in North America. Over half of the 5,000 job losses it's announced will happen within British Gas, and will predominantly be among corporate and management staff. The tough measures have been taken by Centrica in an attempt to “arrest [its] decline” as it has steadily lost customers across the board; a situation only worsened by the pandemic.
Over 5,000 people will lose their jobs at Royal Caribbean Cruises due to uncertainty and travel restrictions brought on by the pandemic. A number of cruise ships became floating COVID-19 epicentres when the virus first broke out, and cancelled sailings have left Royal Caribbean floundering financially.
As the summer brought a huge slump in passenger numbers, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), like its rival Norwegian Air, resorted to cutting its staff numbers. In March, the airline revealed plans to temporarily reduce its workforce by 90% – or 10,000 people – as the company tried to pull through the worst of the pandemic. The following month brought the sombre announcement that half of those not working would become permanent lay-offs.
The Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is one of the largest hotel groups in the United States, but the COVID-19 outbreak has forced it to let go of most of its 8,000-strong workforce. The chain owns 54 hotels around the country, and the company CEO Jon Bortz has warned that more than half of those now face closure. Many Pebblebrook properties are situated in cities badly impacted by the pandemic, such as New York City, Seattle, and Chicago, which meant that a plunge in guest numbers was inevitable.
As lockdown left people with nowhere to go, Uber quickly saw a dip in passenger numbers – in March there had already been a 60% drop in badly-affected parts of the UK. The controversial private taxi firm had already been struggling after reporting losses of $8.5 billion (£6.8bn) last year, and so cuts to its workforce became a necessary step when COVID-19 hit. Initially Uber cut 3,700 jobs – 14% of the workforce – at the beginning of May from areas such as recruitment and customer service departments as demand for new staff hit an all-time low. However, less than two weeks later a further 3,000 job losses were announced as it decided to close or consolidate 45 of its offices.
As the price of oil has plummeted, to the extent that in April the price of oil turned negative for the first time in history and oil producers were actually paying people to buy the black stuff, the knock-on effects have been felt across the industry. Energy corporation Chevron has suffered the blow of the tumbling prices, and low demand for oil means the company needed to make cuts. In a large money-saving restructuring effort, 10-15% of Chevron’s staff will be made redundant, which equates to between 4,500 and 6,750 job losses in what, pre-pandemic, was one of the most lucrative businesses around.
Air carrier Air France-KLM is set to cut more than 7,500 jobs over the next three years because of the COVID-19 outbreak. More than 1,000 of these job losses will be laid-off from the company’s regional arm Air France HOP!, halving its workforce. The airline was losing €15 million ($17m/£13.5m) a day at the height of the pandemic and, despite receiving €7 billion ($8bn/£6.3bn) in support from the French government, is having to push ahead with lay-offs.
As would-be travellers are understandably eager to get refunds on holidays that never happened, travel companies such as Tui are left with gaping holes in their income. Cancelled plans led to losses of €740 million ($832m/£664m) in the first quarter of 2020, which led the German government to give the business a €1.8 million ($2m/£1.6m) loan to stay afloat. Then as the pandemic truly took hold, 90% of Tui's employees were put on government support schemes or took a pay cut. Despite these measures, in May the company axed 8,000 members of staff permanently as it continued to try to fight for survival.
At the end of last year, Emirates broke the world record for the most international flight, with its EK2019 journey boasting 540 passengers of 145 nationalities. However, the airline is less likely to garner praise for its decision to cut up to 9,000 jobs due to coronavirus, out of its 60,000-strong workforce. It's already cut at least 10% of its workforce and president Sir Tim Clark told the BBC, "We will probably have to let go of a few more, probably up to 15%".
Although the luxury car industry has been hit by falling sales during the pandemic, it's Rolls-Royce’s plane engine manufacturing arm that has necessitated job cuts at the British company. Rolls-Royce employs around 52,000 people around the world, but as the aerospace industry is out of action for now, around 9,000 of those workers will be left without a job because of COVID-19. Since the announcement, more than 3,000 UK-based employees have shown an interest in taking voluntary redundancy.
While drivers might be enjoying cheaper fuel prices, companies such as BP are bearing the brunt. On 8 June the oil giant announced that it was set to lay off 10,000 employees by the end of the year, despite pausing redundancies during the pandemic. While the industry is now showing some signs of recovery as people travel again it has been predicted that the fossil fuel industry could see a $25 trillion (£20tn) collapse because of the pandemic. If the industry sinks further, there are likely to be many more job losses to come.
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As travel became restricted and destinations closed, car rental giant The Hertz Corporation saw an increase in cancellations and a decline in forward bookings. The company had announced cost-cutting provisions in March, such as furloughing staff and changing marketing strategies, but by May Hertz was forced to file for bankruptcy protection to keep the business on its feet. Around 12,000 members of staff have been laid off and there was controversy over an executive pay plan, which was dropped after a judge called it "offensive".
Although the airline industry has been hit across the board, British Airways plans to make more redundancies than most. Its parent company, IAG, will be cutting 12,000 members of staff from its 42,000-strong workforce as part of a “restructuring and redundancy scheme” set to be in place until air travel normality resumes over the coming years. Originally IAG had avoided asking for government loans, but the company has since tapped into £300 million ($380m) in UK Government-backed support to prevent the business from crumbling. Despite this, at the end of June the firm asked members of its longest-serving cabin crew to take a 20% basic pay cut or face being part of the 12,000 redundancies.
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General Electric (GE) is a big player in the airplane manufacturing sector, but orders for its jet engines have gone down dramatically. As a result, 13,000 people will be left jobless from its GE Aviation unit as the company shifts its way of working to save much-needed money. This is set to save GE $1 billion (£840m) but that will likely provide little consolation to those who will now be on the hunt for another job.
At the beginning of September, United Airlines told employees that it would be cutting more than 16,000 jobs as early as October, which represent around 17% of United's total workforce at the end of 2019, but the figure was 13,400 by the end of the month. The airline was initially currently covering salaries using a $5 billion ($4bn) loan from the US Government, but federal aid ran out on 1 October. The total number of job losses is lower than the potential 36,000 announced to be at risk by the airline in July, as employees accepted buyouts, early retirement packages, furlough schemes and other optional programmes to reduce cuts.
Unsurprisingly French carmaker Renault has also faced difficulties, and it has come up with a €2 billion ($2.3bn/£1.8bn) plan to save money and prevent the company from collapsing. Sadly for employees, that involves 15,000 lay-offs. Around 4,600 of those job losses will be in France, but the company will benefit from the €8 billion ($9bn/£7.2bn) rescue package put in place by the French government to help its car manufacturing industry get through the crisis.
Global plane-maker Airbus will lay-off 15,000 of its 134,000-strong global workforce because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point in April air traffic was down by more than 90%, and as such demand for new planes has tumbled. Employees like those at Airbus must now bear the brunt, and many have protested in response. Before the announcement, the company had already furloughed a large number of its workers – 3,200 at one site in north Wales alone – and Chief Executive Guillaume Faury had said that Airbus was “bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed”.
Boeing is one of the biggest airplane manufacturers in the world, but the company has also come under threat as its aircraft have fallen out of use during the pandemic. Demand for Boeing planes was already dwindling after two fatal crashes left the company’s reputation in tatters, and the coronavirus outbreak has only added to the cacophony of financial issues it was already facing. On top of the 16,000 job losses it announced in April, Boeing is planning another round of job cuts.
Back to travel, and American Airlines has decided that a downsize is necessary for the company to make it through the pandemic. In August, American Airlines said it would need to reduce headcount by a massive 40,000, or 28% of its workforce, however 12,500 had agreed to leave the company with early retirement or buyout packages while another 11,000 had agreed to voluntary furloughs until October. That leaves up to 19,000 employees that will lose their jobs after lawmakers failed to agree on a coronavirus relief package for airlines on 1 October, when the government wage support scheme ended.
This Japanese carmaker is also looking to make cuts to its workforce, with market intelligence reports suggesting that 20,000 jobs across Europe and developing countries could be at risk. However, this isn't an entirely new development, as in 2019 Nissan announced plans for 12,500 lay-offs in response to already-falling sales and profits. The company has also put a stop to the expansion plan that controversial former CEO Carlos Ghosn had implemented.
Airline Lufthansa is set on cutting 22,000 workers from its ranks, including 1,000 administrative jobs and one in five management positions. Over half of Lufthansa’s 135,000 employees are based in Germany, and around half of the redundancies will be staff in the company’s home country. Like many airlines, Lufthansa has asked for government help, and is in receipt of a huge €9 billion ($10.2bn/£8.1bn) bailout. In return, the German Government will receive a 20% stake of the company, which it then plans to sell by the end of 2023. The company announced in September that it would need to make further job cuts on top of the 22,000 already announced.
In May, Canada’s national airline announced plans to cut its workforce by around half, leaving up to 22,800 members of staff unemployed. This comes as Air Canada attempts to balance the books as forecasts for normal passenger numbers continue to look disheartening. Despite the cuts, the airline is expanding into new fields, and Air Canada has been the first airline to venture into the home entertainment streaming industry. Loyalty programme members now have access to an online platform featuring over 200 movies as part of the airline's “Travel at Home” campaign, as the company tries to keep hold of its regular flyers, even when they can't fly.
Walt Disney theme parks have been hit hard by the pandemic, and while many have reopened they're seeing nothing like their previous visitor numbers. Following the news that Disney lost $4.72 billion (£3.64bn) in the three months to 27 June, its first quarterly loss in nearly two decades, the company has announced it will be laying off 28,000 employees from its theme parks.
Back in February, the UK’s largest bank HSBC announced plans to cut 35,000 jobs from its workforce. Not wanting to leave staff members high and dry as the coronavirus pandemic set in, bosses put redundancies on hold, but HSBC’s new chief executive has resumed the plans to make cuts. This comes as part of a larger restructuring plan to save £3.6 billion ($4.5bn) by 2022, although it was recently announced that the banking giant planned to accelerate its restructuring plan which could mean job cuts come sooner than initially expected.
Cinema chain Cineworld, which operates 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas in the UK and 536 Regal Cinemas in the US, has announced it will temporarily close all cinemas due to the lack of new releases to draw in audiences during the pandemic. The closures will mean that a massive 45,000 employees will be put out of work, with 5,500 job cuts at UK cinemas and 20,000 at US cinemas, as well as job losses for contract workers including security staff and cleaners.
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