The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
(46 - 47) Wholesale / Retail 47 - Retail trade 47.7 - Retail sale of other goods, except motor vehicles and motorcycles 47.71 - Retail sale of clothing
1,700 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
14 May 2025
Employment effect (start)
14 May 2025
Foreseen end date
31 December 2026
Description
Burberry, the British luxury fashion house, has announced plans to cut around 1,700 jobs globally by 2027.
In manufacturing, Burberry will remove the entire night shift at its Castleford trench coat factory in Yorkshire, UK, impacting about 170 jobs.
In Italy, Burberry has launched a collective redundancy process at its regional headquarters, where it will dismiss 39 employees. A significant number of fixed-term contracts are also unlikely to be renewed. Italian trade unions have strongly opposed the decision, criticising the company for poor strategic choices and inadequate severance offers.
The job cuts will also affect head office staff worldwide as well as retail employees through reorganised staff rotas.
The restructuring programme aims at reducing cost after a decline in profits. The company reported a £66 million annual loss.
Burberry is a British luxury brand established in 1856. Currently, the company operates in over 50 countries with around 422 directly operated stores as of March 2025. Burberry employs around 9,300 people worldwide.
Eurofound (2025), Burberry, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 203194, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203194.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
