Major UK supermarket chain puts 80 more jobs at risk after shedding nearly 5,000 roles last year alone

A MAJOR supermarket chain has put 80 more jobs at risk after shedding nearly 5,000 roles in the last year alone. It marks the fifth round of job cuts by the grocer this year. The supermarket has made a number of job cuts this year Credit: Oscar Wong Morrisons has put more than 80 jobs at its headquarters, The Grocer has reported. The chain has already begun consulting with employees whose roles may be affected and will help them find roles elsewhere in the business if they can. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! A Morrisons spokesman told the outlet: “While we are making good progress with our plan to renew and modernise Morrisons – growing sales and our market share, and improving the shopping experience – market conditions remain challenging and we are focusing hard on delivering the best value for customers.” Results published by the group last month showed the chain cut nearly 5,000 roles in the past year. Average employee headcount dropped from 101,144 to 96,232 over the year with 4,200 fewer employees in actual Morrisons stores. There were also around 500 less members of staff in manufacturing roles and 200 less in distribution. Morrisons also warned earlier this year that hundreds more jobs could be axed from its head office. The brand said that the “difficult but necessary” decision was made amid plans to introduce a more AI-focused business model. Most read in Money A spokesperson previously told The Sun: “As we evolve and adapt, we are proposing to make some changes to a number of areas within our central structure. “This will involve making some tough but necessary decisions, which will impact on colleagues in our head office, where we are proposing to place a number of roles at risk of redundancy. “We understand this will be difficult news for these colleagues and will be offering them our full support, including helping them to find alternative roles elsewhere in the business wherever we can.” The grocer, which has over 1,000 stores across the UK, has struggled with a mounting debt pile in recent years thanks to its private equity takeover from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. It has also faced increased competition from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, with the latter ousting Morrisons as Britain’s fifth largest supermarket chain earlier this year. The Sun has approached Morrisons for comment. Comment now