// Tesco to create 16,000 new jobs in the UK to support online growth
// Most of the roles expected to be filled by staff who joined temporarily at the start of the pandemic
Tesco has announced that it will create 16,000 new permanent jobs in the UK, most of which will support the surge in customer demand at its online business.
The Big 4 giant said most of the roles are expected to be filled by staff who joined on a temporary basis at the start of the pandemic, when Tesco went on a hiring spree in response to the surge in demand in the lead-up to and early weeks of lockdown.
The grocer said the new jobs would consist of 10,000 new picker jobs assembling online customer orders and 3000 new delivery drivers.
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The remaining 3000 jobs on offer would for a variety of roles stores and distribution centres.
Tesco added that the new permanent roles were in addition to 4000 already created since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
The news comes after several gloomy weeks for the UK retail sector, which has seen more than 40,000 job cuts since the lockdown was announced in late March.
However, grocers have generally bucked the trend of wider retail, particularly because of skyrocketing growth in online demand as customers stayed at home during lockdown.
Tesco said it was now serving 1.5 million customers a week online, more than twice as much as the 600,000 it had at the start of the outbreak.
“Since the start of the pandemic, our colleagues have helped us to more than double our online capacity, safely serving nearly 1.5 million customers every week and prioritising vulnerable customers to ensure they get the food they need,” Tesco UK chief executive Jason Tarry said.
“These new roles will help us continue to meet online demand for the long term, and will create permanent employment opportunities for 16,000 people across the UK.”
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