Wiltshire firm Dyson to cut hundreds of jobs in the UK and abroad

The firm's headquarters in Malmesbury is likely to bear the brunt of the job losses. Credit: PA

Wiltshire-based engineering giant Dyson is cutting hundreds of jobs, blaming a change in consumer behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 600 jobs will be lost in the UK and 300 globally. The company said most of the affected people work in retail and customer service roles, adding it was working to redeploy people to alternative jobs where possible.

Dyson says the pandemic has changed people's shopping habits and it needs to come up with new ways to sell its products. Credit: PA

A Dyson spokesperson said: "The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated changes in consumer behaviour and therefore requires changes in how we engage with our customers and how we sell our products.

"We are evolving our organisation and reflecting these changes to make us faster, more agile, and better able to grow sustainably.

"We are fully supporting those who are impacted, finding alternative roles where possible."

The firm was founded in Wiltshire by the inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson. Credit: PA

Councillor Gavin Grant is calling on Sir James Dyson to back the town and keep jobs in the area. 

Conservative MP for North Wiltshire, James Gray said: "I have grave concerns about the future of the economy nationally and of course that will affect Wiltshire as much as anywhere else.

"But perhaps slightly less here than anywhere else as we tend to be on the slightly more high tech side of things, we tend to be on the service side of things here rather than manufacturing and all that sort of thing. "

"So I would hope the worst economic effects would not be so bad here as they are elsewhere."

Dyson employs 14,000 people globally, of which more than 4,000 are in the UK. The company said it has not furloughed any staff or drawn on public money to support jobs anywhere in the world during the pandemic.

Consumer habits have changed in recent months, with more people shopping online.

The biggest impact is expected to be on Dyson's head office in Malmesbury in Wiltshire.

Staff were given details of the redundancies on Thursday.