ALDI - Store Colleagues

Source: Aldi

Aldi store staff earn a minimum £10.57 an hour nationally and £11.32 an hour within the M25

Aldi is taking on 1,500 temporary store staff over the Christmas period in its biggest ever intake of festive season workers.

The discounter is looking for temporary recruits to work on checkouts and restocking shelves, as well as picking orders for its click & collect service. Aldi store staff earn a minimum £9.55 an hour nationally and £11.07 an hour within the M25.

The 1,500 are on top of the 2,000 permanent jobs Aldi aims to fill by the end of the year in stores, distribution centres and logistics – including lorry drivers – to support its growth plans.

Aldi has been pushing its recruitment message hard in recent weeks, including an ad on the front page of the Metro newspaper saying it had “more jobs than you can shake a kayak at” in London.

The supermarket also staged at least 15 store recruitments events across the country in September.

Aldi also said today it would again close stores on Boxing Day, as it has in previous years.

Read more: Shortages? What shortages? Aldi CEO sets out ‘unique advantages’ on availability

“We always need extra support over the busy Christmas period but this year especially, temporary store colleagues will play a vital role in keeping our shelves stocked as the nation prepares to reunite with their loved ones after missing out on festive celebrations in 2020,” said Aldi UK recruitment director Kelly Stokes.

“At the same time, we also want to recognise and thank our amazing colleagues who have been going above and beyond to serve local communities over the past year. This is why we will once again be keeping our stores closed on Boxing Day, and it’s been really encouraging to see other retailers committing to do the same this year.”

Commenting as Aldi announced its full-year results last week, UK CEO Giles Hurley said he was confident it would retain good availability levels for Christmas thanks to its small range compared to bigger mults and its predominantly British supply base.

Hurley also said employing over 75% of its lorry drivers directly was helping Aldi to ensure “all of our trucks are running across all of our distribution centres”.

Aldi came top as guest retailer in the Grocer 33 in September, including beating rivals on availability at its Shiremoor store, with only one of the 33 items out of stock.