John Lewis workers dish out abusive comments amid staff cuts

The John Lewis Partnership has threatened staff with disciplinary action after a slew of "unacceptable comments" were posted on its internal forum as workers prepare for mass job cuts.

It is treating "abusive, hurtful and simply unacceptable" comments on its intranet as a disciplinary matter, according to The Telegraph.

The partnership revealed there was a "significant and understandable strength of feeling about recent announcements but that’s not an excuse for some of the abuse we’ve seen".

It added: "The intranet is not a social media platform. It’s a business channel and should be treated as such by every partner."

Last month, John Lewis confirmed its plans to cut its workforce by 11,000 roles over the next five years. The news came just days after the business warned of reduced redundancy payouts and pay cuts as part of its complete overhaul.

The company currently employs over 76,000 workers, who are expected to be affected by changes. Out of £10.5 billion in revenues for its last full year, John Lewis spent £1.8 billion on staff, making pay one of its largest costs.

These changes threatened to spark a staff walkout as employees demanded answers. In a letter to John Lewis, the GMB Union said: "As the union that represents John Lewis workers, we call on you to meet urgently with us to discuss these changes and to give your workforce the meaningful representation they clearly need."