28,000 Woolworths staff to be fired.
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/18/woolworths-closure-unemployment-alexandra-burke
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"Some 28,000 Woolworths staff are set to join the growing ranks of Britain's unemployed after being told yesterday that all stores are to close by early January.
Talks with potential buyers of the stricken chain continue, but administrators Deloitte told the group's remaining 28,275 employees yesterday to prepare themselves for the worst.
Workers had learned the news in an email from head office yesterday morning. The first 200 of the group's 807 stores will close on 27 December, followed by subsequent waves on 30 December and 2 January. The final stores will open their doors to the public for the last time on 5 January, ending nearly a century's trading at the high-street institution.
"Some people have worked at Woolworths for 10, 20 years and it really means something to them," said one head office worker, who said colleagues had cried when the decision was announced. "Woolworths has been around for 99 years so it is almost a heritage brand."
Last-minute bids for the chain were said to be in the offing from groups in the UK and overseas, but hopes of a deal being struck look forlorn."
Should more have been done to help this company? Should the government have stepped in as they have with the banks? What will 28,000 people becoming unemployed do to the already fragile economy?
Talks with potential buyers of the stricken chain continue, but administrators Deloitte told the group's remaining 28,275 employees yesterday to prepare themselves for the worst.
Workers had learned the news in an email from head office yesterday morning. The first 200 of the group's 807 stores will close on 27 December, followed by subsequent waves on 30 December and 2 January. The final stores will open their doors to the public for the last time on 5 January, ending nearly a century's trading at the high-street institution.
"Some people have worked at Woolworths for 10, 20 years and it really means something to them," said one head office worker, who said colleagues had cried when the decision was announced. "Woolworths has been around for 99 years so it is almost a heritage brand."
Last-minute bids for the chain were said to be in the offing from groups in the UK and overseas, but hopes of a deal being struck look forlorn."
Should more have been done to help this company? Should the government have stepped in as they have with the banks? What will 28,000 people becoming unemployed do to the already fragile economy?
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