Tesco to cut around 9,000 jobs
16 Feb 2015
Tesco is gearing up to let go 9,000 employees under a turnaround plan that would eliminate a layer of management in larger supermarkets and also slim its head office and close outlets, The Guardian reported.
Dave Lewis, Tesco's new chief executive, is said to have drawn up plans to remove team leaders within the chain's larger stores, potentially affecting around 3,000 staff.
The latest round of cuts comes following Tesco's statement last month that it would close 43 stores, with the loss of 2,000 to 3,000 jobs. The retailer also planned to close its Cheshunt headquarters as also restructure its Welwyn Garden City offices - a move that would likely see further 3,000 job losses. Tesco started offering voluntary redundancy to head office staff last week.
According to sources, the scale of job losses due to management changes in stores could be less than feared as Tesco hoped to find other roles for some of those staff, although it was not clear whether alternative jobs would pay the same wage.
Lewis's plan to revive the fortunes of the ailing chain followed the example of his overhaul of Unilever UK, where he came to be known as ''Drastic Dave'' for the scale of cuts in jobs and products sold.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that up to 6,000 jobs would go from Tesco's head offices and 43 stores that it was closing, while the rest of the jobs were at risk from a dramatic overhaul of how the company ran its stores.
The supermarket business had already shed thousands of jobs as the ''big four'', Tesco, Asda, J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison, responded to falling profits and the growing threat from discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Last year, Asda announced 1,360 redundancies after a shakeup of management structure, even as Morrison cut 2,600 jobs in a similar move. Sainsbury's announced in January that 500 jobs would go at its offices.
Tesco, the biggest retailer in the country and the biggest private sector employer, employed over 310,000 staff across 3,330 stores.
The company started consultations with staff at the end of January, while head office employees were offered the chance to apply for voluntary redundancy. The final number of job losses would be determined by the result of the consultation process and whether in-store staff accepted alternative roles.
Lewis had said he wanted to cut head office costs by 30 per cent and save £250 million per year in costs across the business as Tesco looked to fund price cuts and shore up its balance sheet. Tesco would close 43 stores and its corporate headquarters in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire under its cost-cutting drive.
