Amid a challenging economic climate for U.K. retailers, some of the country’s largest grocery chains are making sweeping job cuts.
U.K. grocery chain Sainsbury’s has announced it aims to slash 3,000 jobs and streamline divisions, resulting in a proposed 20 percent reduction of senior management positions.
Similarly, Morrisons is planning to cut 200 jobs after a review of its structure.
“We are, therefore, proposing to remove the roles of regional people manager, store people manager, and case specialist from our structure, meaning colleagues in these roles are being placed at risk of redundancy,” a Morrisons spokesperson told The Grocer. “Before any final decisions are taken, we will undertake a minimum 45-day consultation process.”
Sainsbury’s said its job cuts aim to accelerate the goals laid out in its Next Level strategy.
“We launched our Next Level Strategy almost a year ago and are totally focused on making good food joyful, accessible, and affordable for everyone every day. As a result, we’re seeing real momentum across our business, with a best-ever value position, leading quality and increasing market share,” Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said. “As we accelerate into year two and beyond of our strategy, we are facing a particularly challenging cost environment, which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.”
As part of its Save and Invest to Win program to deliver GBP 1 billion (USD 1.3 billion, EUR 1.2 billion) of operating cost savings to the chain, the retailer plans to update its central divisions and management structures.
“This will see all head office departments reorganized to become dedicated to the different needs of the Sainsbury’s and Argos businesses while creating fewer, bigger roles with clearer accountabilities. The changes are designed to drive faster decision-making and bring costs down through an estimated 20 percent reduction in senior management roles over the next few months,” the retailer said...
