Thomas Cook to ditch around 50 homeworker roles
Around 50 Thomas Cook homeworkers are facing the threat of redundancy due to cost-cutting measures at the retailer.
The homeworkers at risk have been providing support to staff in Thomas Cook shops with group and scheduled bookings.
However, Thomas Cook said it had decided to direct all business-to-business calls through its contact centres to cut costs and improve efficiency. It said this had been made possible due to improved technology, system and process changes.
"With the introduction of these changes we are proposing today to cease B2B homeworking. This will unfortunately affect around 50 of our colleagues," said a spokeswoman.
Staff have been informed and entered into a 30-day consultation process with the company.
Thomas Cook director of retail Kathryn Darbandi said: "As part of the continued transformation of our business we are making some changes to the structure of our contact centre.
"This means that some roles are at risk of redundancy, which will unfortunately affect a number of our homeworking colleagues. We are talking to everyone affected about different roles within Thomas Cook and we hope to retain as many colleagues as possible."
Thomas Cook announced last month that it planned to close a further 39 shops, reducing its total number to 719.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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