Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain is to cut 4,500 jobs at 153 Tesco Metro stores as it has realised that there has been a shift in customers’ trends using the Metro stores for convenience shopping rather than large weekly food shops.
This move according to Tesco is to “simplify and reduce processes and administrative tasks” across all of its Metro stores.
Due to the way customers are using Metro stores, Tesco felt it needed to introduce a faster and easier way of stacking shelves, holding less stock in their storage rooms and more items on their shelves.
Jason Tarry, UK & Ireland boss at Tesco, said:
In a challenging, evolving retail environment, with increasing cost pressures, we have to continue to review the way we run our stores to ensure we reflect the way our customers are shopping and do so in the most efficient way.
We do not take any decision which impacts colleagues lightly, but have to make sure we remain relevant for customers and operate a sustainable business now and in the future.
This follows the announcement Tesco made early this year stating that 9,000 jobs could be at risk. This was part of the supermarket’s “turnaround” strategy to decrease costs in retaliation to a “competitive and challenging market.”
Pauline Foulkes, national officer at Union of Shop, Distribution and Allied Workers (Usdaw), said:
Our members at Tesco are shocked and dismayed by yet another round of potential job losses, coming just months after 9,000 staff were put at risk in stores.
We will be working hard to make sure that any members potentially affected by these proposals are supported at this difficult time and throughout the consultation period.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
