Another major supermarket axes hundreds of jobs in major shake up

ANOTHER supermarket has announced it will axe hundreds of jobs in a major shake up.

Morrisons said it would cut 200 staff from its Retail People Team, making it the second supermarket to confirm job cuts today.

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Roles in customer service, employee engagement and payroll are all understood to be impacted, according to a report in The Grocer.

It comes just hours after Sainsbury's said it would cut 3,000 head office staff roles and also axe all remaining patisserie, bakery, rotisserie and pizza counters in its bigger branches.

A spokeswoman for Morrisons told The Grocer: ”We have recently carried out a review of our People structure to ensure we are offering our stores and sites a timely and consistent service.

"We are therefore proposing to remove the roles of Regional People Manager, Store People Manager and Case Specialist from our structure, meaning colleagues in these roles are being placed at risk of redundancy."

It continued :"The new structure will consist of a number of new central roles to support our supermarkets directly along with central HR support and additional employee relations roles.

"Before any final decisions are taken, we will undertake a minimum 45-day consultation process.”

The Sun has contacted Morrisons for comment.

It comes after Morrisons also said it would scale back operations at its Rathbones bakery hub in Wakefield.

The 28,000 square foot facility will stop making specialist bakery products and pump out less produce.

The group has been under increased pressure following the rise of German discounters.

Almost three years ago, it was overtaken by Aldi as the UK's fourth largest supermarket.

Last month, boss Rami Baitiéh, also warned that a “avalanche of costs” would hit businesses following the government’s October Budget.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said during her autumn statement she would raise employers' National Insurance contributions (NICs).

She also announced a reduction to the threshold at which businesses start paying NI contributions from £9,100 to £5,000.

It's estimated that the move will raise £25billion - the equivalent of around £800 per employee for each firm.

At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.

Many other retailers and hospitality groups have warned the move could lead to businesses incurring higher costs which they might have to pass on to consumers.

TOUGH DAY FOR SUPERMARKETS

The news comes just hours after Sainsbury's revealed it would axe 3,000 head office roles and wind up its hot food and bakery counters.

It will see about 20% of senior management roles cut at the supermarket giant as part of plans to focus on fewer, bigger roles and to simplify its head office and management teams.

The cuts come after Sainsbury’s announced its “biggest ever” Christmas trading period and said profit for the full-year would likely be between £1.01 billion and £1.06 billion earlier in January.

But the supermarket is also trying to cut costs by £1 billion-a-year, and last year it cut about 1,500 roles, mostly from a contact centre in Cheshire.

The company said in late 2024 that tax increases from the October Budget would hit it with an extra £140 million in costs, warning that the changes would also lead to higher inflation.

It also marks a major change for its supermarkets, which will now no longer serve patisserie, bakery, rotisserie and pizza counters.

Chickens usually sold at the rotisserie counters will be shifted to hot cabinets next to sandwich fridges.

This rule only applies to larger supermarkets, with smaller formats not impacted.

Meanwhile its remaining cafes will close after less of its loyal customer base was using them.

You can read the full list of closures here.