Miele GB agents are set to be made redundant following news their contact centre in the UK is closing.
Staff at the global washing machine company with headquarters in Oxfordshire are willing to protest to stop up to 100 redundancies being executed.
Miele GB announced to employees last week plans to relocate the work to an external firm based in Greece, with the German company, which manufactures low-cost domestic appliances, not confirming how many workers will lose their jobs as part of the transfer.
However, a Miele employee, who did not want to be named, told the Oxford Mail that up to 100 local jobs will be lost.
They said: “They have allowed us to graft over the pandemic and carry the business only to be rewarded with redundancy.
“I believe this will outrage our customers and needs to be widely spread.
“There are also talks about protests taking place to stop the transfer.”
A statement from the company confirmed that all customer contact centre employees at the site will be ‘potentially impacted’ by this proposal.
They are set to participate in a full 30-day consultation programme, which could allow for new roles to be created. These will be open to existing employees to apply for.
Miele also explained that only after the consultation process has been completed, the company will reveal which roles within the centre will be affected.
A leaked email from the company’s North West Europe regional service director Emma Pamplin said that Miele will have ‘no requirement for employees based in the UK’, and that if people wished to transfer to Greece, it will be ‘on Greek terms’.
It also listed support available to employees in the form of retention bonuses, ‘reasonable’ time off to look for work, one-to-one support from line managers, wellbeing support and support from mental health first aiders.
