Store changes at Tesco could see 2,000 jobs go
Tesco is proposing changes to its business that could see up to 2,000 jobs go. Up to 1750 of those will be team manager posts in its larger stores.
The supermarket said that the changes to its business is to ensure it remains focused and competitive in a fast-changing market.
Tesco said in its announcement that this meant making some difficult but necessary decisions but will ensure it can continue to invest in the things that matter most for its customers and business.
The proposed changes include:
Management changes
- Over the last couple of years, Tesco has started rolling out a new management structure in approximately 350 of its smaller Superstores, which, it said, better reflects the needs of its stores.
- It has now taken the decision to extend this structure across all its larger Superstores and Extra stores.
- It will introduce approximately 1,800 new Shift Leader roles in these stores, leading on the day-to-day operational duties on the shop floor.
- It will also realign its manager roles to ensure they are all of equal size and complexity, focusing on overall store performance and supporting its colleagues to serve their customers, communities and planet a little better every day.
- With the introduction of these new Shift Leader roles and realignment of management roles, Tesco said it had taken the difficult decision to reduce the number of Lead and Team Managers in its large stores, impacting around 1,750 colleagues.
- The company said it is supporting employees impacted by these changes, who will have the option of moving into Shift Leader vacancies with financial support or taking redundancy.
Counter closures
- Tesco first announced changes to its counters back in 2019, and have been reviewing them on an ongoing basis ever since.
- The company said it had seen a significant decrease in demand for its counters over the last few years, and its customers no longer say they are a significant reason for them to come in store and shop. Instead, they are choosing to buy from the wide range of products available in the aisles.
- The majority of stores no longer operate any counters. In the small number of stores that do still have them, many are only open with reduced days and times – and Tesco has strengthened its in-aisle ranges to ensure that customers can still find the meat, fish and deli products they want.
- The business has therefore decided to close its remaining counters and hot delis from 26th February, and the space will be repurposed to what Tesco believes will better reflect its customers’ needs. All affected employees will be offered alternatives roles in store.
- Where it can work with a third party to offer a counter experience in-store, Tesco said it will continue to do so.
In addition to the changes above, there are a small number of other more employees about.
Tesco UK and ROI CEO, Jason Tarry said: “These are difficult decisions to make, but they are necessary to ensure we remain focused on delivering value for our customers wherever we can, as well as ensuring our store offer reflects what our customers value the most. Our priority is to support those colleagues impacted and help find alternative roles within our business from the vacancies and newly created roles we have available.”
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