More redundancies expected at Specsavers

Tuesday 19 May 2020

Up to 70 staff working at Specsavers' Guernsey support office are at risk of being made redundant due to the impact of the corona virus, staff have been told.

Staff have been made aware this morning of further far-reaching changes at the company as it looks to secure its long-term future and "rebuild the business" following what the impact of the corona virus pandemic.

It means that 70 support office jobs in Guernsey are at risk of redundancy, plus a further 380 jobs across Specsavers' other support offices in the UK.

Specsavers had already announced up to 5% of its local workforce were facing job losses earlier in the lockdown. 

Specsavers is the island's largest private employer with more than 500 staff usually based at its Headquarters in La Villiaze.

The potential redundancies will affect colleagues at all levels of seniority and span all business support functions.

CEO John Perkins said: "Discussing potential redundancies on this scale is the toughest step we’ve ever had to consider. My heart goes out to each and every one of our colleagues who could lose their jobs.

Pictured: CEO John Perkins notified staff of the changes this morning.

"We’ve done everything we possibly could to avoid this situation, including implementing salary cuts and the introduction of part-time working arrangements. 

"Like many other companies, the downturn in business that we have experienced has been dramatic and, coupled with a challenging outlook for the economy, we have had no option but to stop many of our major programmes, halt significant capital investment initiatives and carry out an exercise to streamline our organisational structure. 

"Moving forward, our unwavering focus is on rebuilding the business to protect remaining jobs here in Guernsey and the interests of our joint venture partners and their store teams – giving them the opportunity to grow and thrive as they continue to best-serve our customers in the UK and around the world."

The move comes following a warning from the island's largest private employer last month that some Guernsey-based staff were facing the prospect of redundancy "in order to protect the future of Specsavers."

As a result, Specsavers temporarily changed the working hours of many of its staff at its La Villiaze support office, where more than 500 staff are usually based. 

However, those staff have now been told that further measures are set to be taken and that employees across all levels of the company will be affected.