The Co-operative Group staff continued to express concerns this week over the pilot of a new system of working that could lead to redundancies.

The Grocer revealed last week that the society was trialling a new way of working called S3 Store Standards, through which it was reassessing the number of staff needed.

The Co-op admitted the changes could result in “a reduction in the total number of hours for colleagues in some stores, as well as a need to change some current working patterns.”

On www.thegrocer.co.uk this week, one staff member wrote: “Our store is already running at skeleton crew levels. Even at peak times, customer service suffers. We are expected to lose 140 hours after our S3 implementation.”

Another posted: “Our store has taken a cut of around 20%. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get all tasks done even working to the S3 ways. The methods are great but the drastic cut in hours is being felt by customers and staff.”

The Co-op told The Grocer last week it “was not in a position to confirm the details of the impact at this stage.”

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