Aldi has joined the list of supermarkets planning job cuts, with up to 350 at risk in a restructure of the discounter’s head office teams.
Finance, back office and buying roles including non-food are among those affected, though Aldi plans to have more buyers based at its headquarters in Atherstone.
The discounter joins Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons in the list of supermarkets cutting jobs in the wake of October’s budget, amid warnings of the additional cost heaped on retailers by measures including an increase in employers’ National Insurance payments from April.
Sainsbury’s last month said it was axing 3,000 roles as it shuts its remaining cafés and closes patisserie and pizza counters, while Tesco said it was cutting 400 jobs across stores and head office management as part of an efficiency programme to “simplify” the business.
Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh has refused to rule out further job cuts in the coming months, having axed 200 from its people team in January as part of an efficiency savings plan. Baitiéh last month also launched an outspoken attack on the planned tax increases, saying it left no option but to look at major cost-cutting measures.
The BRC warned on Monday that up to 160,000 jobs were at risk, with part-time roles particularly exposed by the threshold at which employers pay National Insurance on annual wages dropping from £9,100 to £5,000. Combined with an increase in the national living wage, the BRC said the budget measures would add £5bn to retailers’ labour costs in 2025 alone.
No customer-facing roles are affected in Aldi’s restructure, which was reported first by the Grocery Gazette.
“To support our continued growth and to offer the best experience to our customers, we are consulting over proposals to restructure some head office teams,” said an Aldi spokesperson.
“No customer-facing roles are affected, and no final decisions will be made until the consultation process is complete.
“We are committed to supporting our colleagues throughout this process. Wherever possible, we will seek to redeploy affected colleagues within the business.”
It comes after Aldi last week made its second announcement of a pay rise for store workers in a month, as it battles with rival Lidl to offer the sector’s highest entry-level rates.
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