9000 jobs at risk at Tesco stores across UK

9000 jobs at risk at Tesco stores across UK

Britain's supermarket giant Tesco is putting up to 9000 jobs on the line as it simplifies its stores.

It is not yet known what impact this will have in Scotland, where Tesco employs several thousand staff at both its superstores and Tesco Metro and Express stores.

The company said that since it launched its turnaround structure four years ago, it has “built a stronger business focused on serving our customers”.

However, due to the competitiveness of the grocery retail market, and cost-cutters such as Lidl and Aldi, the UK's biggest supermarket decided to implement further changes to its structure. The group will also close meat, fish and deli counters at “around 90 stores”, but there are no plans to make any significant changes to bakeries in 2019, despite reports to the contrary, the firm said.

Meanwhile, staff canteens will be replaced with self-service kitchens due to “reduced demand”. Some of the job losses are linked to the canteen closures.

Chief executive officer Jason Tarry said: “In our four years of turnaround we've made good progress, but the market is challenging and we need to continually adapt to remain competitive and respond to how customers want to shop.

“We're making changes to our UK stores and head office to simplify what we do and how we do it, so we're better able to meet the needs of our customers. This will impact some of our colleagues and our commitment is to minimise this as much as possible and support our colleagues throughout.”

Overall, the supermarket estimates that up to 9,000 jobs could be impacted by the restructuring. However, half of those will be redeployed to other roles.

The company has now completed its merger with £4billion Booker, the food delivery wholesaler, which is expected to deliver cost savings.

Some of the changes Tesco will implement include reducing the number of counters available in shops and improving both stock control and merchandising simplification.

Head office roles will also be changed to allow the firm to "focus on supporting our customers," said the company.

 

Article Credit: Insider