Asda announces 3,000 jobs are at risk as part of major restructuring

Asda has announced that around 3,000 jobs could be at risk as it undergoes some major restructuring.

The supermarket is undergoing consultations with 5,000 staff in regards to the restructuring, as part of which approximately 3,000 back office store workers are at risk, the Mirror reports.

According to Asda, this restructure of the business has come about because of the ‘structural shift’ towards online grocery shopping which the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated.

A spokesman for the company confirmed that the consultations will affect staff in administrative roles, because of a continued slump in cash transactions.

As Asda looks to shift more of its picking operations into stores, it said it plans to close its Dartford and Heston home shopping centres, which will affect roughly 800 jobs.

N Chadwick / Geograph

On top of that, to support online shopping as an increased amount of picking happens in-store, around 1,100 store management roles will be changed.

Chief executive Roger Burnley said the move will ‘transform’ the business, adding: “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.

“The last 12 months have shown us that businesses have to be prepared to adapt quickly to change and I am incredibly proud of the way we demonstrated our agility and resilience through the pandemic.

“We know that these proposed changes will be unsettling for colleagues and our priority is to support them during this consultation process.”

According to Mr Burnley this will create around 4,500 jobs in online operations in 2021, with any Asda employee affected by the restructuring prioritised for these new roles.

He added: “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.”