John Lewis to cut 150 roles as part of realignment plan

John Lewis is set to cut more than 150 jobs as part of a realignment plan that will see it make a multi-million pound investment to simplify in-store operations, including investments into new technology and realigning staffing. As part of the changes, 153 roles, or 1% of the total workforce, will be lost. John Lewis said it will look to meet this through natural attrition and voluntary redundancies

The plan will see both staffing hours and staff roles realigned, “getting Partners in the right place, at the right time”. While the group currently has separate roles for serving front and back of house, it is proposing to bring the two together to enable more staff on the shop floor during peak times. 

It added that an investment into new technology will also aim to simplify the business and improve customer service.

As part of this, the chain will invest £5m on new digital headsets to help improve communication between employees within stores, allowing employees to track each other down more easily and therefore reduce wait times for customers. 

Customers will also be able to call for assistance by using call points installed at key in-store areas, such as fitting rooms and customer collection points.

In addition, it will introduce mobile payment to 5,000 Partner devices, allowing employees to serve customers on the shop floor rather than directing them to the nearest till. 

A John Lewis spokesperson told Retail Sector: “We’re seeking to make sure Partners are in the right place at the right time to help customers. We’re also removing unnecessary tasks, and introducing new technology to make their roles easier. 

“We carried out similar changes in Waitrose earlier this year, with customer and Partner feedback increasing significantly since. It’s since been ranked the no.1 supermarket for customer satisfaction.”

According to John Lewis, following similar changes rolled out in Waitrose, it now has more than 17,400 extra employee hours on Saturday and Sunday when stores are busiest. 

Customer satisfaction also rose, as Waitrose leapt 67 places in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, to now be named as the fourth best performer of any UK company, and the leading supermarket. 

Last month, it was reported that John Lewis executive director, Peter Ruis, made plans to increase the shop floor staff count across the retail estate.

It was understood that Ruis is currently renegotiating contracts with fashion brands, which will see them pay the department store a lower rate of commission. 

This move will be in exchange for hiring more employees in John Lewis’ concessions, as the retailer aims to mirror the sales culture of its many beauty halls. 

Ruis, who was named executive director of the department store in January this year, is reportedly of the opinion that staff levels have been scaled back too much across the shop floor.