Staff left devastated as Debenhams announce '60 job losses at Meadowhall store'

The employee claims that staff at the department chain were told they were going to lose their jobs via a scripted, telephone conversation late last night (Monday, August 10).

The news comes after the retailer confirmed 2,500 jobs will be lost across its stores and warehouses.

Debenhams is said to be cutting staff numbers as they look to slash costs after sales were impacted by the coronavirus lockdown that was imposed in March and only began to be lifted in June.

Sales manager, visual merchandise manager and selling support manager roles are all to be scrapped as part of the department store business’ restructing process.

The move, which was first reported by RetailWeek, comes four months after Debenhams collapsed into administration.

The chain said it has no plans to shut more stores.

A Debenhams spokesman said: “We have successfully reopened 124 stores, post-lockdown, and these are currently trading ahead of management expectations.

“At the same time, the trading environment is clearly a long way from returning to normal and we have to ensure our store costs are aligned with realistic expectations.

“Those colleagues affected by redundancy have been informed and we are very grateful to them for their service and commitment to Debenhams.

“Such difficult decisions are being taken by many retailers right now, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to give Debenhams every chance of a viable future.”

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