Asda Unveils ‘Transformation’ Plan That Puts Thousands Of Jobs At Risk

Namnews, 25th February 2021

Just days after being acquired by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, Asda has announced a programme of changes and workforce restructuring designed to align its business to the latest shopping trends.

The UK’s third-largest supermarket chain said the shake-up was driven by the dramatic shift in demand towards online grocery services during the pandemic. Asda highlighted that its delivery volumes have doubled in recent months to reach levels that it expected to take nine years to achieve.

Having already increased its online capacity by 90% since last March last year, Asda now plans to expand its ‘in-store pick’ model further by creating 4,500 new roles in its online operations.

However, Asda has also opened a consultation on proposals to overhaul operations in three different parts of its business that could affect up to 5,000 jobs. The group stated that the proposals were aimed at creating “simpler, more efficient ways of working for colleagues and a better experience for customers, in-line with wider changes across the grocery industry”.

The consultations will cover about 3,000 back office store workers. The changes include cash office, administration, people and training tasks being combined and completed by fewer “multi-skilled” staff.

Asda also plans to close its Dartford and Heston home shopping centres, with around 800 jobs affected, as it looks to shift more online order picking to its stores.

Meanwhile, around 1,100 of its store-level management roles will be changed to support online grocery operations as more in-store picking takes place. Deputy store manager and section leader roles are due to be replaced by two new roles – operations manager and online trading manager.

Asda stated that if its proposals are enacted, the priority will be to move as many affected staff as possible into alternative roles within the business, with redundancy the last option.

Asda’s CEO Roger Burnley commented: “The pandemic has accelerated change across the retail sector especially the shift towards grocery home shopping and our priority is to serve customers in the way they want to shop with us … As customer habits continue to change we have to evolve our business to meet these demands and ensure our business is strong and sustainable for the long term.

“We know that these proposed changes will be unsettling for colleagues and our priority is to support them during this consultation process. Our plans to transform the business will result in more roles being created than those we propose to remove and our absolute aim is to ensure as many colleagues as possible stay with us, as well as creating the opportunity to welcome new people to our business.”

NAM Implications:

• Companies take over other companies in part to achieve economies of scale…
• …but also as a means of reducing costs, otherwise why bother?
• All else is detail…