4,000 jobs to be cut at Pearson

The FTSE 100 listed firm, which recently sold the Financial Times newspaper and its stake in the Economist magazine group to focus solely on the education market, said the jobs cull represents around 10​ per cent​ of its 40,000 global workforce.

It is expected to impact a similar proportion of its staff in the UK, where it employs between 4,000 and 5,000 people.

Most of the job cuts will be made before the summer, with the remainder by the end of the year, Pearson said.

The group has two offices in London and further sites in Manchester, Oxford and Harlow, Essex.

A spokesman for Pearson said: "The UK is our home market and our second biggest market globally.

"Despite these necessary changes to simplify our business, we are completely committed to continuing to invest here for the long term."

Pearson cut its full-year earnings guidance, pencilling in around £720​m in underlying operating profits for 2015, and warned earnings were set to fall further in 2016, to between £580​m and £620​m before restructuring costs.

A £320​m hit from the overhaul is expected to see its 2016 bottom line earnings tumble to between £260​m and £300​m.

The warning comes after Pearson cut its forecasts in October.

But the group hopes its turnaround efforts will cut annual costs by around £350​m and return operating profits to at least £800​m a year in 2018.