National Trust to axe 1,300 staff amid plans to save £100m
The National Trust has announced plans to axe 1,300 jobs, as the charity seeks to shore up £100m in annual costs through spending cuts as a result of the pandemic.
The company said it will make 514 compulsory redundancies following consultation, with a further 782 employees set to take voluntary redundancy.
The job losses represent around 14 per cent of the Trust’s 9,500-strong salaried workforce.
The company said “some roles at higher levels” will be affected, while “some vacancies will be removed to reduce the number of senior management roles”.
Shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens told City A.M the announcement was “devastating news for staff at the National Trust who do such important work connecting us with our heritage”.
“Labour warned the government that its Winter Economy Plan would do nothing for sectors that cannot fully reopen or have lower visitor numbers at the moment but the chancellor did not listen,” she said.
“This is sadly the consequence. We will continue to see job losses unless the government act. These jobs were ‘viable” and will be so again.”
The figure marks a significant decrease on the 1,200 jobs earmarked for compulsory redundancy by the conservation body in July, as wide-scale site closures ate into finances.
The National Trust said it reviewed more than 14,500 pieces of feedback from staff and volunteers as part of “the biggest redundancy consultation in its 125-year history as a result of the coronavirus crisis”.
The Trust is set to save around £41m in annual costs by reducing travel and office expenditure, and cutting marketing and print spend in favour of digital communication.
It said it has already saved millions of pounds through freezing recruitment, drawing on reserves and stopping or deferring projects.
Director general Hilary McGrady, who took a 20 per cent pay cut at the start of the pandemic, said: “This is a very painful time for so many organisations, businesses and communities.
“No leader wants to be forced into announcing any redundancies, but coronavirus means we simply have no other choice if we want to give the charity a sustainable future.”
McGrady said the Trust had “exhausted every other avenue to find savings”, adding: “But sadly we now have to come to terms with the fact that we will lose some colleagues”.
“We will do all we can to support those who are leaving, and others affected by these significant changes”, she said.
The charity, which as more than 5.6m members across the country, will retain roles focused on education and curation across its 500 sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It will also increase building maintenance roles and introduce new specialist jobs focused on sustainability and carbon reduction, the group announced today.
It comes after the charity was forced to shutter all of its houses, gardens, car parks, shops and cafes during the pandemic.
McGrady today said the National Trust would continue to open as many of its sites as possible while government restrictions remain in place.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of trade union Prospect — which represents more than 150,000 British workers — said the 1,300 figure was a huge number of job losses, but lower than it might have been.
Clancy said: “The current plan, while devastating for those who are losing jobs they love, is a reasonable way to move forward, minimising job losses while hopefully safeguarding the National Trust’s future.”
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