Hundreds of jobs at risk as John Lewis announces closure of in-store services | John Lewis

John Lewis has put 200 jobs at risk as it plans to close desks providing gift wrapping and currency exchange services.

The 36-strong department store chain said it had begun consultations on job cuts as it plans to close desks running currency exchange services at 30 stores and specialist gift wrapping services at 25 stores.

A final decision on the closures has not been made, but if approved it would happen this fall.

John Lewis has long had a reputation for strong customer service on the high street and this week It came second to the Nationwide building society in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index published by the Customer Service Institute.

One employee told the Guardian: “They are removing space from the store that John Lewis claims to represent.”

They said they were dealing with queries “on a daily basis” as John Lewis’ call center was unable to provide the necessary assistance to customers.

Shop floor workers who will take on extra work such as dealing with inquiries and offering gift packages at tills are “already overworked, overwhelmed with responsibilities and understaffed”, according to the staff member.

A spokesman for John Lewis dismissed the criticism, saying its independently measured customer satisfaction and loyalty scores and staff satisfaction levels had increased year on year.

“Looking at today’s UK Customer Service Institute scores you will see that John Lewis’ score has improved from third to second overall and we remain the best retailer in the UK.”

If the plans are approved, John Lewis customers will be able to order money online, arrange home delivery or pick up their items in stores.

The spokesperson added: “Our customers are increasingly purchasing the wide range of currencies we offer online and enjoying the convenience of having them delivered directly to their home or collected from one of our stores.

“We are proposing to close our gift wrapping service as well as our in-store currency exchange offices as we focus on modernizing this offering to meet the changing needs of our customers.

“As a result, we are unfortunately currently advising partners who provide these services.

“This is not a decision we take lightly and we will support affected partners throughout the consultation process and support redeployment where possible.”

It is understood customer service desk spaces will be repurposed for other purposes, and John Lewis said the vast majority of inquiries are currently being handled by shop floor assistants and they will continue to do so if the proposed closures go ahead.

In March, the John Lewis Partnership, which runs the department store chain as well as supermarkets Waitrose, said it would continue to look for ways to work more efficiently this year, including greater use of electronic shelf labels and artificial intelligence, but did not comment on whether more jobs would be separated.

Last year the parent group cut 3,300 jobs, reducing its total to 65,700. Around 1,500 of these roles have been removed from John Lewis stores.

The company, which closed stores, laid off workers and abandoned plans to build and rent houses above its stores to cut costs, paid annual bonuses to workers in March for the first time in four years after its underlying profit increased by 6 percent. Each employee, including the president, was given a bonus equivalent to 2% of his salary.