Iceland Foods has appealed to Sainsbury’s and Morrisons staff set to lose their jobs, inviting them to apply for ”hundreds” of vacancies at Iceland HQ, supermarkets and Food Warehouse stores.
Iceland made the appeal first via social media and now through a formal release from the company, as it gears up for its own store expansion which aims to double its network of Food Warehouse stores.
The supermarket is looking to fill “more than 600 roles” across its operations nationwide, with positions ranging from retail staff, delivery drivers and management roles at Iceland’s Deeside headquarters.
It follows what was a dark day for the retail sector, after Sainsbury’s announced it would cut more than 3,000 roles from stores and HQ, as the supermarket accelerates its Next Level strategy. Later that afternoon, Morrisons announced it too would be cutting jobs, revealed exclusively by The Grocer, with more than 200 set to leave the business as it restructures its team.
We're so sorry to hear about this 😣 If you or anyone you know has been affected, feel free to check out our careers page. We have lots of great opportunities here at Iceland & The Food Warehouse.https://t.co/9icKbuBjph
— Iceland Foods ❄️ (@IcelandFoods) January 23, 2025
Although neither supermarket directly claimed the losses were in response to the “barrage” of cost increases both face from April as a result of Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget, both Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh and Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts were among the retail bosses to have previously warned about the impact of the budget increases.
Roberts warned in November retailers would face “tough decisions” in order to mitigate the hikes to National Insurance and national minimum wage from April.
It was a point not lost on Iceland, whose executive chairman Richard Walker – who has publicly backed Labour during and since the election, having previously applied to stand as a Conservative candidate.
“While many in the retail sector are facing tough decisions, we’re proud to be creating opportunities and expanding our team as we grow across the UK,” an Iceland spokeswoman said.
“These roles reflect our ongoing commitment to investing in our business, our people, and doing the right thing by all those who make Iceland what it is today. We invite experienced retail staff and talented managers to come and join our team,” the spokeswoman added.
Unions in consultation with Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s informed staff of the looming job cuts yesterday afternoon, which come as it closes its remaining 61 in-store cafes and strips out all patisserie, hot food and pizza counters from stores. Some 20% of the job cuts will affect senior managers at its store support centre.
Sainsbury’s store staff are represented by trade union Usdaw, whose national officer Bally Auluk confirmed the union had entered consultation with the supermarket over the job cuts.
“We understand this will be a worrying time for those affected,” Auluk said.
“Usdaw will be working hard to ensure our members are supported throughout the process and as many people as possible remain in employment with the company. In the meantime, we are providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need. Any Usdaw member with concerns should contact their workplace union representative.”
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