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In a move that will impact thousands of workers across the UK, one of Britain’s leading supermarket chains has announced ...

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In a move that will impact thousands of workers across the UK, one of Britain’s leading supermarket chains has announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting initiative. Sainsbury’s, the second-largest supermarket chain in the country, revealed on Thursday that it will be closing all of its remaining in-store cafes and discontinuing its patisserie, hot food, and pizza counters.

The job cuts, which represent about 2% of Sainsbury’s current workforce of 148,000 employees, will include a 20% reduction in senior management roles.

The company plans to focus on fewer, bigger roles to simplify its head office and management teams.

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive, explained the rationale behind these decisions. He commented:

“We are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.”

Impact on Scotland

While Sainsbury’s has not specifically announced job losses in Scotland, the nationwide cuts are likely to affect Scottish stores and employees, and the closure of all 61 remaining Sainsbury’s cafes across the UK will undoubtedly impact Scottish locations.

For Scotland, this move could potentially lead to job losses in both retail and food service sectors within Sainsbury’s stores. However, the exact number of Scottish jobs at risk has not been disclosed.

These job cuts come at a time when retailers are grappling with rising costs and the impact of recent tax increases. The British Retail Consortium has warned that the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions from April will lead to price hikes and potential job losses across the retail sector.

Sainsbury’s has stated that the increase in employer National Insurance contributions will cost the company an additional £140 million starting in April. This financial pressure has likely contributed to the decision to implement these sweeping changes.

Despite these cuts, Sainsbury’s recently announced a 5% increase in its average hourly wage to £12.60, although this will be implemented in two stages “to better navigate a particularly challenging cost-inflation environment.”

The company has promised to “do everything we can” to support employees affected by these announcements.

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