Asda has warned that 3,000 workers in its stores are at risk of losing their jobs as the chain’s new owners plan to ramp up investment in online sales.
The UK’s third-largest supermarket chain said the shake-up was driven by the shift in demand towards grocery deliveries which took off at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asda said that while it had begun consultations with 5,000 of its back office store workers, it hoped the plan would result in no more than 3,000 roles being lost.
On a net basis, Asda said its plans would result in 1,500 employment additions as it was seeking 4,500 staff to drive growth in online.
It was expected that many of those tipped to lose out would be able to take on one of the new jobs, Asda said.
They were most likely to be in store cash and administrative roles currently.
The proposed closure of its Dartford and Heston home shopping centres would result in 800 jobs being affected, Asda said.
It said that the restructuring could see 1,100 store management roles being given a new grocery delivery focus.
The chain’s chief executive, Roger Burnley, said: “The pandemic has accelerated change across the retail sector especially the shift towards grocery home shopping and our priority is to serve customers in the way they want to shop with us.
“The last 12 months have shown us that businesses have to be prepared to adapt quickly to change and I am incredibly proud of the way we demonstrated our agility and resilience through the pandemic.
“We know that these proposed changes will be unsettling for colleagues and our priority is to support them during this consultation process.
“Our plans to transform the business will result in more roles being created than those we propose to remove and our absolute aim is to ensure as many colleagues as possible stay with us, as well as creating the opportunity to welcome new people to our business.”
The shake-up was the first to be announced under the new ownership of brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, whose funding of the deal has attracted union criticism.
They took control of the business from Walmart earlier this month though the transaction is yet to be formally cleared by regulators.
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