British leisure group Whitbread, owner of Premier Inn hotels, said Tuesday that it could axe up to 6,000 jobs or almost a fifth of its workforce, owing to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

"With market demand expected to remain at lower levels in the short to medium-term, we have now taken the very difficult decision to announce our intention to enter into consultation on proposals that could result in up to 6,000 redundancies for our hotel and restaurant colleagues," Whitbread said in a statement.
Newspaper headline: Whitbread to cut jobs