Dyson Cuts Almost 3rd of UK Workforce, Blaming Fierce Competition

Undated image of Sir James Dyson, appearing on the BBC's 'The Andrew Marr Show,' while being interviewed in Wiltshire, England. (No copyright)

Dyson is to cut 1,000 jobs from its UK workforce of 3,500 as part of a major restructuring, after blaming “increasingly fierce” competition in global markets.

The company, founded by Sir James Dyson and famous for its bagless vacuum cleaners, sent an email to staff on Tuesday, saying it had reached the decision after reviewing its global operations.

In 2019, Sir James moved the company’s headquarters from Malmesbury in Wiltshire to Singapore.

The company, which also makes air treatment and haircare technology, has factories and offices in Malmesbury, London and Bristol.

The Dyson Institute, which provides undergraduate engineering programmes, is also based in Malmesbury.

Dyson said the review was begun before last week’s general election and is not linked to Labour’s landslide victory.

Last year, on its website, Dyson said it had, “achieved record global revenues in 2023 of £7.1 billion” and said that was up by 9 percent on 2022.

It said, “Despite global headwinds, Dyson significantly increased long-term investments, growing research and development expenditure by more than 40 percent in 2023 ... Against this backdrop, Dyson achieved a profit of £1.4 billion.”

But in the email to employees, the company’s chief executive Hanno Kirner said, “We have grown quickly and, like all companies, we review our global structures from time to time to ensure we are prepared for the future.”

“As such, we are proposing changes to our organisation, which may result in redundancies,” he added.

‘Pace of Innovation and Change Is Only Accelerating’

Mr. Kirner, a German who formerly worked for Tata and Jaguar Land Rover, said, “Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating.”

Dyson cut 1,000 jobs globally in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 600 in Britain and more than 300 overseas.

Dyson was founded in 1991 by Sir James, who was knighted in the 2007 New Year Honours, for services to business.

In August 2021 Sir James criticised the work-from-home culture which had grown up during the lockdown and said the, “chances of the next generation will suffer” if British workers did not return to the office.

Sir James was critical of Rishi Sunak’s government, claiming his promise to turn Britain into a science and technology superpower was a “mere political slogan.”

In December 2023, Sir James criticised Mr. Sunak and the then-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt of failing to provide growth and praised their predecessors, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. for “doing the right thing.”

Mr. Kwarteng stepped down at last week’s general election and Ms. Truss lost her seat in South West Norfolk, which had been Conservative for 60 years.

PA Media contributed to this report.