Morale among Manchester United staff hits new low as hundreds left fretting over future

Hundreds of Manchester United’s staff have been left fretting over their job status following meetings held yesterday.

It has been widely reported that one of Ineos’ key financial decisions has been to cut down on what they consider to be a bloated staff.

The petro-chemicals company are said to want to reduce the staff by around 250 people to streamline costs around the club.

It was relayed here yesterday that every department is at risk except the charitable arm of the club, the Manchester United Foundation.

INEOS has also begun reducing employee perks and benefits, such as company credit cards, and staff are now required to cover their own expenses for events, such as coach tickets down to Wembley for the FA Cup final in May.

The Daily Mail report that the next stage of the process took place on Tuesday when “employees were informed in a series of meetings … which departments and individuals are under threat as part of a redundancy process that will result in up to 250 job cuts.”

Some members of staff were told last week that they wouldn’t be going on the club’s tour of the USA as their jobs were at risk.

Around 125 staff members will travel to America, slightly down on the number that went last season.

The paper reports that “morale at the club has been poor for months since Sir Jim Ratcliffe appointed corporate restructuring firm Interpath to look at running the business more economically.”

“It hit a new low following Tuesday’s meetings just 24 hours before United leave for the three-game tour.”

United’s new owners have been praised for their captures of Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro and they have also made huge changes to the club’s beleaguered sporting department.

Nonetheless, the cost-cutting programme for staff and their treatment of the women’s team is in stark contrast to the positivity surrounding the men’s first team.

Ineos’ claim that staff redundancies “could save up to £10m-a-year to invest in the football operation and infrastructure” and the tightness of the budget can be seen in United’s inability to pay asking prices for players such as Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte despite heavy interest in them both.

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