Five hundred newly appointed HR managers began, this week, their new roles at Sainsbury’s, following its recent HR Change programme.

The retailer reduced the previous 850 personnel manager roles to 500 in a bid to change the administrative-heavy personnel position of its in-store business into a more hands-on training role. 

Head of HR change Jason Rawlings said he was delighted that only 25 of the 350 staff who had been unsuccessful in securing a new HR role had appealed. 

“In a programme of this size you would expect 10% to 15% to appeal. However, our figure shows we have applied a fair and consistent process,” he said, adding that the retailer would seek to find alternative roles for as many of the 350 staff who lost their jobs as possible.

This was a store-only initiative and did not impact on head office, added Rawlings.