More staff on the shop floor was the driving force behind Asda’s management restructure, claimed Asda CEO Andy Clarke in May. However, while creating 4,008 new section leader positions, the changes were in effect a demotion for some former section managers and Asda estimated there would be up to 2,600 redundancies, too. Emotions ran high among staff, many expressing their disgust by commenting on The Grocer’s website at what they perceived as abandonment by an employer for whom they had loyally toiled for years. In July, Asda released a revised figure for redundancies, with the number reduced to 1,360. It’s not the biggest figure we’ve seen. But, symbolically, it’s huge.

 

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