UK: Morrisons announces 5,000 shop floor jobs, head office cuts

Morrisons, the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain, has announced that it is looking to hire 5,000 new shop floor staff in its supermarkets in a bid to improve service  and increase the number of available checkouts.

The new strategy also includes proposals to reduce up to 720 head office roles, where staff numbers have grown 50% since 2008.

The move comes after Morrisons posted a decline in turnover and profit for the 2014 financial year. Reporting its annual results in February, the supermarket said that turnover was down 2% while underlying profit before tax fell 13%.

Chief Executive David Potts said: “We are focusing on the things that matter to our customers. That means having more of our staff in our stores, improving product availability and helping customers at our checkouts. We believe our customers and our staff will appreciate the improvements”.

“To support this, we need a simpler, faster and cost-conscious head office and that requires some tough but necessary decisions”.

Source: Talking Retail / Morrisons