Sainsbury’s is cutting over 3,000 jobs and closing all its in-store cafes as part of a major business overhaul.
This job reduction will primarily affect senior management, with roughly 20 per cent of these roles being eliminated.
The supermarket giant will cut roles as part of plans to focus on fewer, bigger roles and to simplify its head office and management teams.
The supermarket chain also announced it will close its remaining 61 cafes, citing that most shoppers don’t use them frequently.
Instead, in-store food halls and other services have become more popular.
The majority of Sainsbury’s shoppers do not use the cafes regularly
Getty Images
Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s CEO explained the company is facing a tough financial environment, which has led to these difficult decisions.
He said: “As we accelerate into year two and beyond of our strategy, we are facing into 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.
“The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum but have also meant some difficult choices impacting our dedicated colleagues in a number of parts of our business.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to support anyone impacted by today’s announcements.”
The job cuts come after major UK retailers warned that they might have to reduce staff and raise prices this year due to upcoming changes in Labour’s budget.
These changes include a £25bn increase in employer national insurance contributions from April and a 6.7 per cent rise in the national minimum wage.
Despite these challenges, most big supermarkets did well over Christmas. Sainsbury’s, which also owns Argos and Habitat, reported its “biggest ever Christmas,” with sales up 3.8 per cent in the six weeks leading to January 4.
Argos sales grew 1.1 per cent during this period. Sainsbury’s also announced it will close its remaining patisserie, hot food, and pizza counters, moving popular items to regular aisles and offering self-serve bread slicing.
Sainsbury’s employs 148,000 people, with nearly 600 supermarkets and over 800 convenience stores. It will be cutting two per cent of its workforce
The retailer has said it had decided to close its remaining 61 Sainsbury’s Cafes
PA
The latest closures come nearly three years after Sainsbury’s closed 200 in-store cafes and 34 hot food counters as part of a shake-up that put 2,000 jobs at risk.
The company, which is headquartered in London, said it would aim to redeploy workers where possible and offer a support package to those affected that exceeds statutory requirements.
