“Contingency plans”: horrified United staff look elsewhere amid fears over 2025 misery – The Athletic

Manchester United staff fear that there could be more job losses on the way despite recent cuts to staffing numbers.

Last summer, it was announced that Ineos would aim to cut 250 jobs in what they felt was a bloated workforce in comparison to their rivals.

Consequently, the mood around the staff at United is said to be at an all-time low, not helped by the cancellation of the Christmas party this year.

There is said to have been a culture of fear developing among staff with the sacking of sporting director Dan Ashworth showing that nobody is truly safe.

The Athletic report that United staff feel that this may just be the beginning of the re-shaping of the workforce.

“A key objective for Ratcliffe has been headcount reduction, down from around 1,000 to 750. Those large-scale redundancies have left morale, in the words of several employees, ‘on the floor’,” the outlet says.

A recent speech by CEO Omar Berrada to the workforce has given employees the feeling though that “many of those in the audience that even more people could lose their jobs in the second year of INEOS governance.”

It is said that Ashworth’s departure has sent “shockwaves” around the club and proven that nobody is truly safe from the Ineos axe.

“In that light, some staff at United are making contingency plans and looking at opportunities elsewhere. For instance, the commercial director at a different north-west football club is sitting on around a dozen applications from current United employees.”

Those who have inside knowledge of how Sir Jim Ratcliffe does business know that he is “obsessed” with staffing levels and it is an approach that has worked very well in building his fortune in the business world.

One key aspect Ineos aim to dispose of is the concept of a “jobs for life” culture at the club and the chemicals company would argue this is not what happens in the real world of cut-throat business.

The counter argument of course is that while United need to get their finances in check, a football club is not exactly a normal business and can lean very heavily on emotion and staff loyalty.

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