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Morrisons has announced plans to cut more than 1,500 store manager positions across the UK as part of a restructuring.
In a statement the supermarket said it will be discussing a proposed restructuring with store management teams and their representatives, in which there would be more customer service colleagues and fewer managers.
The retailer claims that the changes would “enable stores to serve customers better” and ensure that managers have “more consistent responsibilities”.
Around 1,700 jobs would be created and around 1,500 roles, such as warehouse manager, would be removed. The net increase in posts is expected to be around 200. In addition, there are currently around 800 management vacancies in Morrisons stores. This will mean affected managers will be given the opportunity to stay within the company.
Gary Mills, Morrisons retail director, said: “Our aim is to serve customers better with more front-line colleagues in stores improving product availability and helping customers at the checkouts.
“Very regrettably, there will be a period of uncertainty for some managers affected by these proposals and we’ll be supporting them through this important process. Our commitment is to redeploy as many affected colleagues as possible.”
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) and Supervisory, Administrative and Technical Association (Sata) has responded to Morrisons announcement.
Joanne McGuinness, Usdaw and Sata National officer, says: “This is a further big upheaval for the Morrisons store management team after the restructure in 2014/15. We will be entering into consultations with the company on behalf of our members affected by these changes, which the company proposes to implement in April.
“We are providing Sata members with the support, advice and representation they require through this process. Our priorities are to avoid redundancies and help our members stay employed within the business. We have secured from Morrisons a commitment to offer redeployment opportunities for all affected managers.”
The company joins Sainsburys and Tescos, who have all recently seen job reshuffles within their organisations.
