Marks & Spencer is staging in-store recruitment open days to maintain its pipeline of new staff whilst unable to accept applications online following a cyberattack that has disrupted operations for over five weeks.

The retailer suspended online recruitment alongside clothing and home orders after hackers compromised its systems in April. M&S expects the online disruption to continue until July whilst it rebuilds its digital infrastructure.

With all job listings removed from its website, M&S stores are utilising Facebook to advertise walk-in recruitment events for "multiple vacancies" across various departments. The campaign was first reported on by The Grocer.

The full-line store in Shoreham, West Sussex, held a recruitment day on 28 May, whilst the Peterborough branch staged one on 4 June. "We have multiple vacancies across the store, from Food and Fashion, Home and Beauty to our Operations team," the Shoreham store announced on its Facebook page.

The Peterborough store at Brotherhood Retail Park invited candidates to attend between 10am and 5pm, stating: "There is no need to book just turn up in between the timeframe and head to the top floor till points to get signed in and then a member of staff will help you."

Individual M&S stores maintain their own social media accounts, providing direct access to potential local candidates. The Cribbs Causeway store in Bristol, one of the retailer's latest 'renewal format' branches, posted about "a range of great part-time & full-time vacancies available in our Food department" and requested applicants bring their CV in person.

The cyberattack, first disclosed on 21 April, compromised customer data and has prevented M&S from processing online orders for clothing and homewares. The company estimates the incident will cost approximately £300 million in lost operating profit for the 2025/26 financial year.

Despite the disruption, M&S has maintained strong performance in its food business. Kantar's monthly grocery sales figures revealed spending on groceries at the retailer grew 12.3 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 18 May 2025.

The cyberattack's impact comes as chief executive officer Stuart Machin received a 39 per cent pay increase to £7.1 million for the 2024/25 financial year, according to the company's annual report. The remuneration committee considered whether adjustments were needed due to the cyberattack but concluded no changes were required.

Chairman Archie Norman expressed confidence in the company's recovery, stating: "I am confident that in a year's time the cyber incident will prove to have been a bump in the road along the path to growth, even if it does not feel like that today."

A spokesperson for M&S said almost 90 per cent of Machin's pay was linked to business performance and share price, noting that "over 75 per cent of Stuart's pay is made up of long-term and deferred share awards, subject to waiting periods and tied to future share price performance."

---