Fears of ‘economic Armageddon’ unless workers return to work with as many as 135,000 jobs on the line in Britain

BRITS have been warned of an "economic Armageddon" unless workers return to work, with as many as 135,000 jobs on the line in Britain.

A surge in redundancies have been announced since the coronavirus outbreak, with firms including Boots, EasyJet, Pret A Manger and WHSmith taking the hit.

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The lay-offs continued on Wednesday as WHSmith announced it would cull 1,500 staff, mostly at train stations and airports, due to a collapse in the number of commuters and holidaymakers.

WHSmith boss Carl Cowling said: "I regret that this will have an impact on a significant number of colleagues... we will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time."

It comes as more British workers are staying at home more than anywhere else in Europe - leading to pressure on the Government to get Britain moving again as businesses such as restaurants and shops suffer from a lack of footfall, particularly in city centres.

Iain Duncan Smith said: "It's outrageous that people are still being told they shouldn't go back to work.

"If they don't go back to work, economic Armageddon will hit Britain and with it will come swathes of unemployment leading to even more lives being lost."

Just over a third of Brits have headed back to the office and sat behind their desks after the PM scrapped home-work advice on August 1.

It means the UK is lagging behind all major European countries - in France 83 per cent of office staff are back at their desks and 70 per cent of Germans have given up working from home, according to a survey by Morgan Stanley.

But despite the Prime Minister's efforts to get the economy moving again, many companies have said they will keep staff working at home well into next year.

Clothing chain M&Co will shut 47 stores and shed 380 jobs after going bust in April, while bookmaker William Hill said yesterday that 119 of its betting shops will shut due to a lack of customers.

It also emerged last night that about 1,500 staff at hotels managed by LGH in England and Scotland could lose their jobs - whose hotels include Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Hallmark.

Analysis by the found that of large firms that have disclosed figures, 22,500 job cuts are in retail, 18,100 in restaurants, and 21,600 in travel and airlines.

And Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has warned of further job losses unless people support such businesses.

Speaking to LBC this morning, he said: "You are seeing people starting to go back into town centres and obviously using local shops in villages and rural areas, but many of our city centres are very quiet and we need to get back into them, using the Chancellor's Eat Out To Help Out scheme, going to visit the shops safely, it can be done.

"Shops and the hospitality industry are going to great lengths to make sure that they're following social distancing guidelines and those of us that can do so need to get out and support them now or else we will see, I'm afraid, further job losses and a loss of some of those fantastic businesses that we see in our cities."

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Since the coronavirus pandemic hit, the analysis revealed 230,000 people are set to lose their jobs at more than 100 of Britain's largest firms, both here and abroad.

Pizza Express, Currys PC World, Hays Travel and DW Sports, have all announced cuts, slashing up to 4,470 jobs between them. 

Some of the other major firms cutting staff include Boots (4,000), EasyJet (1,900 in Britain), (John Lewis (1,300), Marks and Spencer (950), and Pret A Manger (1,000 at risk) and Virgin Atlantic (3,150).

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