Marks & Spencer has paused recruitment as it continues to battle a severe cyber attack.
The retailer was hit by the attack over Easter weekend, meaning online orders and food deliveries were impacted and many stores had empty shelves.
The company has now pulled all job adverts from its website while it works to resolve the issues.
The careers site states: “Sorry you can’t search or apply for roles right now, we’re working hard to be back online as soon as possible.”
In a statement to Sky News, M&S said: “While we proactively manage the cyber incident, we are temporarily pausing some of our normal processes so we can continue to work hard on offering the best M&S for our customers and colleagues. Job adverts will be up again in due course.”
Co-op and Harrods have been hit by similar attacks, which are thought to have been caused by ransomware.
Harrods has restricted internet access at its sites until it deals with the threat, it said. Co-op said it had “preemptively withdrawn access to some systems for the moment”. Workers have been told to keep cameras on during Teams calls to ensure all attendees can be identified, according to an email sent to staff.
In the light of the attacks, the National Cyber Security Centre has warned other retailers to be vigilant.
The M&S career site is currently advertising zero jobs in any location.
However, M&S staff on forums have been sharing stories of abuse from customers, with some saying it has been the “toughest week” they have ever known.
“We understand how frustrating it is as it massively affects us and how we are able to do our jobs,” said one.
According to a survey by CyberArk, 71% of UK workers admit to having fallen victim to a cyber attack. Yet only 25% worry about their work accounts being compromised.
“The research highlights an alarming disconnect between the kind of cyber threats UK workers want to protect against and the threats that they instead should be focusing on.
“While protecting against financial fraud or deep fakes are important, it’s weak or re-used passwords and the use of personal devices to access work related apps and information that cyber criminals are more interested in – as accessing corporate data is where the big money is”, said David Higgins, senior director field technology office at the company.
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