John Lewis and Boots announced to cut off over 5,300 jobs as the United Kingdom enters into a recession. 

John Lewis
(Photo : Reutersconnect)
Signage for John Lewis is seen at its store in Oxford Street in London, Britain.

John Lewis and Boots are two of the UK's biggest High Street retailers. However, due to the global pandemic that negatively affected their businesses, they made a tough and difficult decision to close their stores.

Boots said they will cut off 4,000 jobs, while John Lewis will be shutting down eight stores which will put over 1,300 jobs at risk, according to a published article by the BBC News. 

Boots is now planning to restructure its head office and will shut down 48 Boots Opticians stores. However, it is not clear which particular stores are closing.

The announcement of John Lewis and Boots was made shortly after Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned that the new economic support will not be enough to stop millions of workers losing their jobs.  

The Chancellor noted that he cannot protect every single job as the UK enters into a severe recession due to the global pandemic.

Sunak cited a series of measures that aim to save jobs, including a one-time payment, amounting £1,000, to employers for every furloughed employee retained until the end of January 2021.

John Lewis is shutting down its "At Home" stores in Newbury, Croydon, Swindon, and Tamworth, as well as outlets in Heathrow airport and London's St Pancras station.

The company noted that even before the country was hit by the global pandemic, they were already experiencing some problems in their stores. Boots, on the other hand, said they have already planned for a shake-up.

Sebastian James, the managing director of Boots UK, described the latest cut-off as a "decisive actions to accelerate our transformation plan."

Both John Lewis and Boots stressed that they would do everything they could to keep on as many people as possible.

The coronavirus outbreak has forced a lot of customers to do online shopping and only go to stores if necessary. John Lewis and Boots are the latest in a long line of firms to have made cuts during the pandemic.

Other lay-offs announced include: British Airways (12,000 jobs), Upper Crust owner SSP Group (5,000 jobs), Café Rouge-owner Casual Dining Group (1,900 jobs), plane-maker Airbus (1,700 jobs), EasyJet (2,000 jobs), Pret A Manger (1,000 jobs), Harrods (700 jobs), shirtmaker TM Lewin (600 jobs), and Daily Mirror publisher Reach (550 jobs).

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