2023 job losses & Store closures

Senura

There has been a grim start to 2023 with the loss of nearly 15,000 jobs. In the wake of Covid, many jobs have been lost due to closures of major retailers, some of which include Topshop, Oasis, and Debenhams. More recent examples include Paperchase and Wilko. Paperchase fell into administration in January announcing that all its 106 stores in the UK are set to close thus resulting in at least 900 jobs being lost.

Additionally, clothes retailer M&Co is set to close all 170 of its stores after the firm went into administration, resulting in up to 2,000 job losses.

As the cost-of-living crisis lingers on, consumers are having to adapt. This leads to the consumer base switching to cheaper alternatives such as Aldi and Lidl, such as Asda have seen a fall in profits. To combat this, Asda has had a rapid cut in costs at the expense of employees. A proposed 22% cut in staff hours will leave 300 jobs at risk. Additionally, Wilko who reported £36.8 million before tax in 2022, has had a complete change in their leadership team. They are set to cut over 400 jobs to control costs and a reduction in staff hours, all to reduce production costs.

Meanwhile, the UK’s number one retailer Tesco has announced plans to cut close to 2,000 jobs in a restructuring program. Due to declining demand, Tesco is set to close all its food counters resulting in even more job losses. The supermarket has proposed the closure of 8 pharmacies and has introduced a new management structure in 350 of its smaller stores as well as reducing the opening hours of all the in-store post offices.

To conclude 2023 has seen the closure of Paperchase and Wilko, oligopolies such as Tesco and Asda undergo large scale restructuring and firms such as M&Co reducing staff hours and letting go of workers. This all may be a trailer for what is to come as many large retailers are moving away from in-person stores but are instead switching to online stores and delivery schemes. However, a new era is dawning with Aldi and Lidl climbing the ranks soon to become the forefront of supermarket chains and Amazon and Ebay leading the way as the UK’s top online retailers.