Thousands of Sainsbury’s staff will have their jobs thrown into consultation as part of a major shake-up of its business.
The shake-up will see a slimming down of managerial posts in its supermarket and convenience stores across the UK, to be replaced by by fewer, better-paid management roles.
Sainsbury’s retail and operations director Simon Roberts stressed that the retailer’s intention “is not to reduce overall headcount” as a result of the shake-up.
The Big 4 retailer has commenced a consultation period in which affected staff will be given the choice of applying for the new roles or, if unsuccessful, accept a more junior position or face redundancy.
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Although Sainsbury’s would not confirm exactly how many jobs would be affected, it did say it would “in the thousands”.
Roberts added that the changes were “designed to meet the challenges of today’s retail environment” that would lead to cost savings and a more “efficient” structure.
“We’re proposing a store management structure that will deliver best in class leadership and, in many cases, will offer an improved reward package for new management roles,” Roberts said.
“The proposals will introduce a more efficient and effective structure, designed to meet the challenges of today’s retail environment.
“They will deliver cost savings to be invested in our customer offer and in our colleagues as they continue to provide the very best service for our customers.
He added: “I appreciate this will be a difficult time for those affected and we will fully support our people through these changes.”
The news comes less than 24 hours after Sainsbury’s biggest rival, Tesco, announced it was looking to cut 1700 shop floor management jobs.
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