Home » Dyson prepares to axe more than a quarter of its UK workforce

Dyson prepares to axe more than a quarter of its UK workforce

Dyson prepares to axe more than a quarter of its UK workforce

The technology firm is cutting UK jobs as part of a worldwide push to downsize and remain competitive.

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Dyson employees were told on Tuesday that the firm is set to cut around 1,000 jobs in the UK.

The manufacturer, known primarily for its vacuum cleaners, currently employs more than 3,500 UK workers, with offices in Wiltshire, Bristol and London.

“We have grown quickly and, like all companies, we review our global structures from time to time to ensure we are prepared for the future,” revealed CEO Hanno Kirner.

“As such, we are proposing changes to our organisation, which may result in redundancies.”

Although the firm’s founder, James Dyson, is British, Dyson’s primary market is Asia – and the company moved its corporate headquarters to Singapore in 2019.

In Asia, local rivals with copied products can create staunch competition.

“Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating,” explained Kirner.

“We know we always need to be entrepreneurial and agile – principles that are not new to Dyson.”

The job cuts come less than a week after Britain voted in a new Labour government, although the review that ushered in the redundancies started in May. It is understood that the job losses are not unrelated.

When James Dyson decided to move his firm’s HQ to Singapore in 2019, he was criticised because of his stance as a Brexit advocate.

In a Daily Mirror article, journalist Brian Reade suggested that Dyson decided to “talk the talk” then “screw” his country. Reade condemned the entrepreneur’s decision to “Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore”.

Dyson, who said at the time that Brexit was not behind the relocation, brought a libel claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror. He subsequently lost the case.

The new wave of job losses has left the entrepreneur facing more criticism for his stance on the EU.