Morrisons has ended the long wait for Safeway buyers, announcing when they will be made redundant and offering about 70 new buying positions at its Bradford HQ.
Trading teams were told the news at debriefing sessions on Monday, after waiting several weeks to find out when their leaving dates would be.
One hundred buyers will leave their posts in June at the end of the 90-day consultation period, now in its fifth week, with a further 100 departing in September after overseeing the handover to Morrisons.
The same number of jobs has also been lost in other divisions, including marketing and new product development. Their leaving date will be before September but has yet to be confirmed. Buyers said morale
had plummeted following the announcement.
One buyer who is leaving in June said: “It’s alright for those like me who have chosen to go in June, but it’s still very uncertain who will be leaving in September and people would like a little more clarity going forward. Otherwise it’s going to be a very unsettling time for those left in limbo.”
She added that Morrisons’ redundancy packages had been “very generous”.
Around 70 advertisements for buyers at Morrisons’ Bradford office were posted on Safeway’s internal website, The Grapevine, this week, although an insider said that many staff were unenthusiastic about relocating.
He added: “After looking at what gaps there are in both businesses, we have been told about new jobs. Morrisons hopes 300 people will want to move to join them, but I doubt that many will.”
Staff have until April 9 to apply for the posts but many have criticised Morrisons’ approach.
Another senior buyer said: “Morrisons will have to do a lot to win people over because they haven’t done much to showcase themselves. It would have been better if they had done some PR and said, ‘This is what it’s like to work for Morrisons’.”
A second phase of job cuts is likely to be announced in the near future as the consultation starts to focus on other areas of the Safeway business, including supply chain and stock control.
When The Grocer contacted suppliers, we were told that Safeway’s buyers were now acting simply as points of contact, with decisions made by Morrisons.
One said: “Safeway buyers are powerless and we are now in a state of limbo.
“Some of us paid to get the business with Safeway and we haven’t had any reassurances that our contracts will be honoured.”
Another supplier said: “Certain Safeway lines that Morrisons doesn’t stock have already come out. The Safeway promotional programme is being aligned to Morrisons as we speak.”
>>p40 Life after Safeway
Rosie Davenport
Trading teams were told the news at debriefing sessions on Monday, after waiting several weeks to find out when their leaving dates would be.
One hundred buyers will leave their posts in June at the end of the 90-day consultation period, now in its fifth week, with a further 100 departing in September after overseeing the handover to Morrisons.
The same number of jobs has also been lost in other divisions, including marketing and new product development. Their leaving date will be before September but has yet to be confirmed. Buyers said morale
had plummeted following the announcement.
One buyer who is leaving in June said: “It’s alright for those like me who have chosen to go in June, but it’s still very uncertain who will be leaving in September and people would like a little more clarity going forward. Otherwise it’s going to be a very unsettling time for those left in limbo.”
She added that Morrisons’ redundancy packages had been “very generous”.
Around 70 advertisements for buyers at Morrisons’ Bradford office were posted on Safeway’s internal website, The Grapevine, this week, although an insider said that many staff were unenthusiastic about relocating.
He added: “After looking at what gaps there are in both businesses, we have been told about new jobs. Morrisons hopes 300 people will want to move to join them, but I doubt that many will.”
Staff have until April 9 to apply for the posts but many have criticised Morrisons’ approach.
Another senior buyer said: “Morrisons will have to do a lot to win people over because they haven’t done much to showcase themselves. It would have been better if they had done some PR and said, ‘This is what it’s like to work for Morrisons’.”
A second phase of job cuts is likely to be announced in the near future as the consultation starts to focus on other areas of the Safeway business, including supply chain and stock control.
When The Grocer contacted suppliers, we were told that Safeway’s buyers were now acting simply as points of contact, with decisions made by Morrisons.
One said: “Safeway buyers are powerless and we are now in a state of limbo.
“Some of us paid to get the business with Safeway and we haven’t had any reassurances that our contracts will be honoured.”
Another supplier said: “Certain Safeway lines that Morrisons doesn’t stock have already come out. The Safeway promotional programme is being aligned to Morrisons as we speak.”
>>p40 Life after Safeway
Rosie Davenport
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