This is the second wave of major job cuts for Sainsbury’s in just over a year. Last February, it announced 1,500 roles would go.
The supermarket group, which owns Argos and Habitat, will shut down its remaining 61 cafés and, as well as pizza and patisserie, will also dispense with its hot food counters.
Instead, it will make “the most popular items available in the aisle”.
Jobs will go from Sainsbury’s head office as part of an update of its divisions and management “to drive faster decision-making and bring costs down”.
A fortnight ago, Sainsbury’s said it would raise its average hourly pay by 5% to £12.60. But the wage increase will be introduced in two phases “to help manage a particularly tough cost-inflation environment”.
The Unite union said the job cuts were “a blatant example of profiteering on the backs of workers”.
Paul Travers, Unite’s officer for food, said the supermarket should be “ashamed” for cutting jobs while making millions of pounds in profit.
But Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive at retail marketing firm Savvy, said Sainsbury’s cuts are “likely to be the first of many” for the retail industry.
“As expected, services to shoppers will be cut as retailers wrestle with the increased costs of labour as a result of the Budget,” Ms Shuttleworth said.
“But what’s clear from Sainsbury’s statement is that retail organisations will have to make difficult decisions at all levels of the organisation both in stores and behind the scenes in head office too.”
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