More jobs are now under threat amid the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
British Airways has announced it is set to cut up to 12,000 jobs due to a collapse in air travel. The airline, which employs around 42,000 people is owned by IAG, who said it needed to impose a “restructuring and redundancy programme” until the demand for air travel returns to 2019 levels.
British Airways has already put around 23,000 staff on furlough amid the pandemic.
Jobs could also be at risk at Virgin Atlantic, which has been in talks with the UK government about a Coronavirus-related bailout. Other airlines are also understood to be struggling financially due to the impact of the virus.
Meanwhile in retail, John Lewis & Partners has said that it is ‘highly unlikely’ that all 50 of its stores will reopen after lockdown measures have been lifted. It is understood that senior management at John Lewis have begun discussions on which departments stores should remain closed permanently.
Lockdown measures have now been in place in the UK for over a month – over 21,600 people have died in the UK after contracting COVID-19.
