Oxfam to cut 45 staff

5:36pm Wednesday 19th November 2008

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Up to 45 staff are to be made redundant by the charity Oxfam, with the majority of the lost jobs expected to be at the Oxford head office.

Senior managers at the charity, which employs 750 people at its headquarters at the Oxford Business Park, said they were hoping to minimise compulsory redundancies, following a review of business to reflect the current economic climate.

Spokeswoman Magda Walter said: “We started planning for the economic downturn about six months ago, when we looked at ways of being more efficient.

“The decision will affect between five and seven per cent of UK staff, which will be about 45 people, although we hope it will be fewer and we will be looking at a non-replacement policy as much as we can.”

Ms Walter added that the positions affected would mostly be among staff in adminstrative roles.

She added: “Growth in donations is declining but there has not been a drop in donations overall, although it’s too early to tell what will happen in the long term.

“However, unlike the last recession, we have not seen a drop in donated goods to the shops yet.”