PHOTO
A sign is pictured outside the entrance to a Tesco supermarket in Liverpool, north west England on October 7, 2020. - Britain's biggest retailer, supermarket giant Tesco, announced October 7, 2020, a 42-percent jump in net profit in its first half on soaring online demand for food during the coronavirus outbreak. Profit after tax jumped to £460 million ($585 million, 497 million euros) in the six months to the end of August, compared with £324 million a year earlier, Tesco said in a statement. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Supermarket group Tesco, the biggest retailer in Britain, announced Tuesday plans to slash about 2,100 jobs, as sky-high inflation hikes costs.
Tesco plans to cut about 1,750 management roles. It will also axe around 350 jobs with the closure of some pharmacies, all remaining hot food counters and other restructuring.
The group said it would do "more of what works and stopping or simplifying where we need to, so that we're running our business as efficiently as possible".
The losses will be offset by the creation of 1,800 "leader roles".
Tesco recently posted bumper revenue for the key Christmas season, even as customers switched to less expensive rivals as prices soar during a cost-of-living crisis.
Tesco has benefitted from passing on some of its own rising costs to consumers, many of whom appear willing to stay loyal to the group even as UK inflation sits around the highest level in decades.
At the same time, Tesco is keen to match the prices of some similar goods offered by supermarkets run by German discounters Aldi and Lidl to retain business from cash-strapped shoppers.
