Dyson to cut 900 jobs globally due to virus impact
Vacuum cleaner firm Dyson said it will cut 900 jobs from its global workforce, as the coronavirus pandemic impacts consumer demand for its products.
Approximately 4,000 of Dyson’s 14,000 staff are based in the UK.
“These proposals would regrettably result in around 600 redundancies in the UK and 300 in the rest of the world,” said a company spokesperson.
“The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated changes in consumer behaviour and therefore requires changes in how we engage with our customers and how we sell our products.”
As the pandemic set in, Dyson created a medical ventilator from scratch to help the government with tackling the crisis.
However founder James Dyson later said the government did not need its ventilator design.
Dyson has so far opted not to take advantage of the government’s coronavirus job retention support scheme or used any public money to support staff.
It said most of the staff impacted today’s announcement are in retail or customer service roles, as the company uses its own staff to sell its products in department stores such as John Lewis.
Where possible, employees will be redeployed to different jobs, Dyson said.
Most of Dyson’s UK roles are split across its two research facilities in Wiltshire.
James Dyson, who founded the firm in 1993, topped the Sunday Times Rich List in May.