Former Dyson workers have revealed how they found out about the manufacturer’s plan to cut 1,000 of its British employees’ jobs.
Cuts at the vacuum and air appliances manufacturer, founded by Norfolk-born inventor Sir James Dyson, equate to almost a third of its 3,500-strong UK workforce.
As employees entered Dyson’s One Cathedral Square in Bristol today, they told MailOnline they found out about job cuts through the news.
One employee claimed the company would execute the job cuts expeditiously to protect trade secrets. He added that he understood the Bristol office was not impacted as much by the job cuts.
Meanwhile, in the capital, staff were seen entering through the back entrance of the Dyson Demo Store on Oxford Street and were already inside once the shop space opened.
Cuts at the vacuum and air appliances manufacturer, founded by Norfolk-born inventor Sir James Dyson, equate to almost a third of its 3,500-strong UK workforce
As employees entered Dyson’s One Cathedral Square (pictured) in Bristol today, they told MailOnline they found out about job cuts through the news
One employee added that he understood the Bristol office (pictured) was not impacted as much by the job cuts
The employee said: ‘Because they are innovators, they move quickly to protect intellectual property. If I were to hand in my notice, they would put me on gardening leave.
The employee added that any redundancies would likely have already happened. He said: ‘Those that would’ve been let go, it would have happened yesterday.’
He added an understanding that the Bristol office was not impacted as much by the job cuts.
Another employee said: ‘The first we heard about it was on the news, then we received an email.’
An employee, who also wished to remain anonymous, said they were still coming to terms with the announcement.
She said: ‘I don’t know enough. It is obviously not good news, but I haven’t taken the time to think about it yet.’
An employee at a different company who works in the same office said: ‘It is not going to be pretty.
‘It is surprising because they have just spent millions on that new office in Bristol.’
An employee, who was on leave yesterday, said he had not received communication from Dyson yet.
Asked about the situation at the Bristol office, he said: ‘I have no idea – I’m about to find out.’
Staff were seen entering through the back entrance of the Dyson Demo Store on Oxford Street (pictured) and were already inside once the shop space opened
An employee, who also wished to remain anonymous, said they were still coming to terms with the announcement (pictured: Dyson store in Oxford Street, London)
The company has offices in Wiltshire, London (pictured) and Bristol, and staff were told about the latest developments in an email this morning
It is understood those who are up for redundancy have already been informed and were not in the office today (Pictured: Staff leaving the Oxford Street store)
Another employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘It’s not too bad here – it’s alright. Dyson will keep growing.’
Other employees said they had been told not to speak, and referred any questions to the company’s press office.
It is understood those who are up for redundancy have already been informed and were not in the office today.
It is understood design engineers were among those up for redundancy.
Asked about the redundancies by MailOnline, Dyson CEO 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.
‘Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating. We know we always need to be entrepreneurial and agile – principles that are not new to Dyson.
‘Decisions which impact close and talented colleagues are always incredibly painful. Those whose roles are at risk of redundancy as a result of the proposals will be supported through the process.’
Sir James was one of the most vocal business voices backing Brexit, but provoked a furious backlash when he moved the firm’s headquarters from the UK to Singapore in 2019 – three years after the referendum.
He was critical of the last Conservative government’s growth plans and last year criticised Rishi Sunak‘s ‘woeful’ science and technology policies, while accusing him of refusing to meet entrepreneurs.
The 77-year-old has also criticised Labour’s economic policies, but it is understood today’s announcement has nothing to do with the party winning a general election landslide.
Sir James modelling a hair dryer in April 2016 – one of a number of products his British firm has produced
The company has offices in Wiltshire, London and Bristol, and staff were told about the latest developments in an email this morning.
Chief executive, Hanno Kirner, said the ‘painful’ redundancies had been decided following a review of worldwide operations commissioned earlier this year.
He said in a company statement: ‘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.
‘We know we always need to be entrepreneurial and agile – principles that are not new to Dyson.
‘Decisions which impact close and talented colleagues are always incredibly painful.
‘Those whose roles are at risk of redundancy as a result of the proposals will be supported through the process.’
It is understood that the review was launched before the General Election was called by outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in May, and does not relate to policies laid out by Sir Keir Starmer’s new government.
Sir James on a visit to Downing Street earlier this year in which he was said to have had a combative discussion with then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt
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
Institute – which provides undergraduate engineering programmes – will continue to be based at the Malmesbury site in Wiltshire.
Sir James has been outspoken about the Conservative government’s policies.
He previously hit out at the Tories for taking a ‘short-sighted’ and ‘stupid’ economic approach, with too much red tape and high taxes.
In January 2023, the tycoon said Britain was stuck in a state of ‘Covid inertia’ that was holding the economy back.
Sir James, who has an estimated net worth of £23billion, accused the Tory government of ‘interfering’ and ‘penalising the private sector’.
He also complained that the failure to get workers back to the office after the pandemic has ‘badly damaged the country’s self-belief and work ethic’.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Sir James said: ‘The Government seems intent on moving in the opposite direction with the introduction of suffocating regulation, greater interference with business, and thinking it can impose tax upon tax on companies in the belief that penalising the private sector is a free win at the ballot box.’
He warned: ‘This is as short-sighted as it is stupid. In the global economy, companies will simply choose to transfer jobs and invest elsewhere.
‘Our country has an illustrious history of enterprise and innovation, born of a culture which we are in the process of extinguishing.’
The entrepreneur was critical of Rishi Sunak’s economic policies
The entrepreneur also praised the aggressive, tax-cutting economic policies of former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and former prime minister Liz Truss.
The pair’s disastrous mini Budget resulted in both senior politicians ultimately losing their jobs weeks after entering office.
‘I’m disappointed we’re not going for growth,’ he said this year.
‘I was hopeful (with Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng). I thought they were doing the right thing – I’m the only one who did.
‘Kwarteng wasn’t raising taxes. He was going for growth, which I think is the right thing. It allows us to pay for things and generates wealth.’
Sir James is said to have had a ‘fiery’ meeting earlier this year with former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who reportedly told the entrepreneur: ‘If you think you could do a better job, why don’t you stand for election?’
The businessman was knighted in 2007 for services to business.
He received fierce criticism in 2019 after announcing the firm’s global headquarters were moving to Singapore from the UK, but defended the move, saying: ‘It would be arrogant to think that we could design and develop products for Asia and Britain.
‘We can develop technology, but understanding what Asians want and what works in the market – we have to be there, we have to be immersed in it.
‘I can’t make things here and bring over all the components from the Far East here, assemble them here and then send them back to the Far East. That just doesn’t work.’
The Dyson vacuum cleaner factory in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, remains one of the firm’s three British sites, where Sir James is pictured in 2002
Sir Dyson also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to Britain.
In an interview three years ago, as the UK emerged from the Covid pandemic, he said: ‘We’re a British company – I’ve put a lot into this country.
‘I’ve invested about £2 billion on this site’, he said. ‘I’m taking on more people, I employ 4,000 people here, I pay a large amount of tax here.’
Dyson, which was founded in 1991, played a key role during the pandemic, working with scientists and Cambridge-based Technology Partnership, to produce 10,000 ventilators for hospitals across the country.
It announced shortly after Covid hit that it would cut 600 jobs in the UK and 300 more in rest of the world due to the impact of the virus.
The company, which employs 14,000 people globally, said impacted staff were in retail and customer service roles, adding it was working to redeploy people to alternative jobs where possible.
