The embattled business lobby group, the Confederation of British Industry, is to lay off a swathe of its workers as it fights for survival amid a crisis prompted by multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
The CBI needs to cut its wage bill by a third within months, staff were told at an all-hands meeting on Thursday, according to sources with knowledge of the discussion, reported by The Guardian.
Management is aiming to initially use voluntary redundancies to trim costs, the report said.
A spokesperson for the lobby group, which employs 300 people, confirmed it had to make “difficult decisions” including cutting its salary base by a third, along with other “cost-saving measures”. “It will be a smaller and refocussed organisation in the future,” they said.
The CBI, which represents the interests of around 190,000 businesses, has lost high profile members since the misconduct claims became public in April.