Tesco has announced a staffing shake-up at its Welwyn Garden City headquarters, in a move it claimed would modernise the operation and make it more efficient.
The supermarket said it had begun speaking to colleagues about proposed changes. It claimed the shake-up would support continued investment to grow the business in areas such as online, as well as revamping its customer and personalisation capabilities.
It said the move would involve the creation of around 250 new roles at head office, but said it had also taken “the difficult decision” to remove around 180 roles across some of its office teams, to ensure it was running the business as efficiently as possible.
It said its priority was looking after colleagues impacted by these changes, including by helping them to move to alternative roles wherever they could.
“We are committed to giving our customers the best value and service every time they shop with Tesco,” said CEO Ken Murphy. “As we look forward and anticipate customers’ changing needs, we must ensure we continue to have the right set-up and capabilities.
“To do this in a highly competitive market, we must be efficient and agile in how we run our business. As a result, we have begun speaking to colleagues about some changes to our head office that will involve some roles being removed and new roles created.
“We understand that this will be difficult news for our colleagues who are impacted, and we will do everything we can to support them, including helping them find alternative roles in our business wherever possible.”
The Usdaw union said it was entering a consultation to seek the best deal possible for members affected.
“It remains incredibly disappointing that, while the company still performs strongly, it continues to make decisions like this,” said Usdaw national officer Daniel Adams.
“Usdaw will enter into consultation talks and do all we can to interrogate the business case for the company’s proposals, while seeking the best deal possible for any of our members who are impacted.
“In the meantime, we will be providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need.”
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