Sainsbury’s to axe 2,000 jobs to save £500m

SAINSBURY’S is axing 2,000 jobs as part of a major costcutting drive.

The retailer said it had taken the ‘difficult decision’ to cut its human resources staff in an bid to save £500m of costs.

it confirmed it had launched a consultation on the proposed changes, which will affect its payroll and human resources clerk roles. The cuts will leave 1,400 payroll and HR clerks redundant and an additional 600 central and HR posts removed. The majority of the HR roles which will be lost are across its supermarket chain, its newly acquired argos chain and Sainsbury’s Bank. it said that it would offer affected staff alternative roles wherever possible. Sainsbury’s, which employs around 195,000 staff across the UK, has been grappling with food inflation and soaring wage bills.

last november, it said it would reduce its running costs by £500m.

it cut 400 jobs in March and around 4,000 employees face major changes to their working hours in a shake-up of night shift work at 140 stores.

it comes after Tesco announced plans to axe 1,200 jobs at its head office in June, and 1,100 jobs at its call centre in Cardiff.

at the time, Tesco boss Dave lewis, nicknamed Drastic Dave for his preference for cutting jobs, said the job cuts would help simplify the way it does business. The grocer axed 5,000 jobs in 2014 and more than 4,000 roles overseas. a further 2,500 workers were made redundant when the retailer closed 43 loss-making stores.

The big four supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s Morrisons and asda – have all lost market share to the German upstarts aldi and lidl, which now account for 12pc of the market in the UK.

The discounters have forced supermarkets to cut prices despite facing increased costs from the weak pound, wages and an apprentice levy.

a Sainsbury’s spokesman said: ‘The UK grocery market is changing at a rapid pace and it’s crucial that we transform the way we operate to meet future challenges and continue to provide customers with best in class service.

‘Following a comprehensive review, we are proposing some updates to our HR structures and systems, as well as changes to a number of other support roles, subject to consultation.’