Dyson is planning to axe more than a quarter of its UK jobs as part of a major restructuring.
The vacuum cleaner manufacturer is to cut around 1,000 of its roughly 3,500 jobs in the UK after a review of its global operations, it told staff in an email on Tuesday morning.
The company, which also makes air treatment and haircare technology, is based in Wiltshire, but also has offices in London and Bristol.
It is understood the decision was not linked to the UK general election, with Dyson’s review having been started before July 4.
Chief executive Hanno Kirner told employees: “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.
“Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating.”
It marks the latest jobs cull at Dyson after the group axed nearly 1,000 jobs at the start of the pandemic, cutting 600 in UK and another 300 overseas.
But the group’s commitment to the UK as a major base for research and development is not thought to be affected by the job cuts, while the Dyson Institute – which provides undergraduate engineering programmes – will continue to be based at the Malmesbury site in Wiltshire.
Dyson was founded in 1991 by billionaire inventor Sir James Dyson.
The firm has been headquartered in Singapore since a decision in 2019 to switch from the UK.
It marked a controversial move, given that Sir James had been a vocal supporter of Brexit.
Sir James has also been increasingly critical of the former Conservative government, claiming in May that Rishi Sunak’s pledge to turn the UK into a science and technology superpower was a “mere political slogan”.
Earlier in the year he had also warned Mr Sunak that growth should not be seen as a “dirty word”, accusing the then government of a “short-sighted” approach to business.