By Saabira Chaudhuri
LONDON--Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC's new chief executive is
slashing roughly one third of the jobs at its head office,
continuing his overhaul of the U.K.'s fourth largest supermarket
chain.
The Bradford, England-based retailer will cut 720 jobs at its
head office, where the number of people employed has jumped 50%
since 2008 to more than 2,300. At its supermarkets, the company is
recruiting 5,000 staff to increase availability and open more check
outs.
"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," said
Morrisons Chief Executive David Potts. "To support this, we need a
simpler, faster and cost-conscious head office and that requires
some tough but necessary decisions."
Britain's supermarkets are in the midst of a fierce battle for
market share with German discounters Lidl and Aldi, which attracted
customers during the recession with their bargain prices. The
latest data from industry body Kantar shows that Morrisons lost
market share in the 12 weeks running to the end of March.
Morrisons' moves come as rival Tesco PLC--Britain's largest
supermarket chain--has also been putting more staff on the shop
floor as part of a larger move to defend market share. Tesco's new
CEO Dave Lewis has closed unprofitable stores and reduced Tesco's
product lineup, and has also said he wants to sell some noncore
assets.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires