Supermarket group Morrisons is to cut around 300 jobs in Scotland as part of a wider cull that will see 2,600 management posts axed across the UK.
The group, which has been under the cosh financially as the groceries sector has become increasingly competitive in recent years, yesterday announced a major restructuring aimed at streamlining the management structure in its stores.
It is understood some of the firm’s larger outlets have up to seven separate layers of management between the shop floor and the person with overall responsibility for the store.
The job losses will see around 2% of Morrisons’ overall 126,000-strong UK workforce leave the business.
On a pro-rata basis, the move means that around 300 jobs are likely to be cut from the company’s 16,000 employees north of the border.
A spokesman for the firm said the specific details of where jobs would go and how many would be lost at individual locations had not been decided.
He said the firm was in discussions with shop workers’ union Usdaw over how the changes would be achieved.
Joanne McGuinness, Usdaw’s national officer representing Morrisons workers, said efforts would be made to limit the extent of any job losses.
“The next few weeks will be a worrying time for our members in Morrisons and we will do everything possible to support them,” she said.
“Today marks the start of a 45-day consultation period, where we will look in detail at the company’s business case.
“Our priority will be to safeguard as many jobs as possible, maximise employment within the business and get the best possible outcome for our members affected by this restructuring.”
The job cuts come at a difficult time for the retailer after it revealed a £176 million annual loss in March and followed up with a profits warning that sent shares tumbling.
In a further trading update last month, Morrisons shocked City forecasters with a worse-than-expected like-for-like sales slump of 7.1% in the 13 weeks to May 4.
The company’s performance led to a much publicised AGM dressing down of current chief executive Dalton Philips by his predecessor Sir Ken Morrison.
The firm yesterday said the streamlining of the management structure represented the next step in the company’s modernisation programme.
“These changes will improve our focus on customers and lead to simpler, smarter ways of working,” Mr Philips said.
“We know that moving to the new management structure will mean uncertainty for our colleagues and we will be supporting them through the process.”
Implementing the new store structure will see department manager and supervisor positions brought together, and Morrisons said a number of workers from that group would be promoted into new duty manager roles.
The firm said it was also creating 1,000 jobs this year in its M local convenience stores, and an additional 3,000 in new supermarkets.