Asda cuts jobs and orders staff back to office to halt sales slump
Asda has ordered its staff back to the office a minimum of three days a week and is cutting head office jobs as it attempts to arrest its slump in sales.
The grocery retailer has enforced a new three-day a week office rule for its more than 5,000 head office staff members through an internal email across its three offices in Leeds and Leicester, according to The Telegraph.
It is understood the message from Asda chairman and interim chief executive Lord Rose, said three-day office attendance will be compulsory from January 2025.
The mandate came alongside an announcement of job cuts, which Lord Rose described as an attempt to “remove duplication and simplify structures”. However, the supermarket did not state how many head office staff would be made redundant.
Lord Rose said: “Change is never easy and is unsettling, but the executive team believe it is necessary to enter 2025 in a stronger position, fully focused on serving our customers, delivering our ambitions and driving long-term growth.”
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A spokesperson for Asda said the new work-from-home policy aligned with that of rival supermarkets, such as Tesco, Aldi and Morrisons.
The spokesperson added: “This approach brings us in line with our competitors and the wider market, allowing us to build high-performing teams with a collaborative culture and respond to what our business needs the most.”
“The change is effective from January 2025 to allow time for all colleagues to make any necessary arrangements.”
The changes come amid a turbulent year for the supermarket giant, as it attempts to deliver a turnaround plan to halt its recent decline in sales.
Last month, Lord Rose assumed executive responsibilities alongside TDR Capital partner co-founder following Mohsin Issa stepped down as chief executive.
Asda is continuing its search to recruit a permanent CEO to lead the turnaround.
1 Comment. Leave new
One or two of Asda’s biggest problems that has made customers get up and take their custom elsewhere is – all these self – serve tills and one or two tills opened operated by staff. Those tills have a queue as long as your arm does that not speak volumes, people want to be served by a member of staff. Yes of course there will always be some who will use the self serve but they are in the minority or when your forced because the queue is awful. Also yous are trying to save money by cutting out night staff I go into Asda and it has put me and many others off – your tripping over pallets of food not yet on the shelves and the shelves are empty. The public is fed up with that and they are going elsewhere. Our Asda in Omagh is not doing as well as they were and Dunnes is thriving and Lidil. Why because the two things I have mentioned doesn’t happen in their stores. Yous are doing yourselves no favours and yous are loosing out.