A/S
Business Homework for Friday 1st February
Struggling
supermarket Morrisons is
delayering its management structure, resulting in the loss of 2,600 jobs.
The
company is removing a level of management in stores, resulting in increased
responsibilities for duty managers.
The
company said that, in total, 14,000 Morrisons workers
will be affected by the restructuring.
The
company, which was a late arrival to the convenience store sector and is
attempting to make up for lost time, said it would hire 1,000 staff for its M
local convenience stores, while it would also be taking on 3,000 new shop floor
staff for the supermarkets, with the new jobs being offered first to those
under the threat of redundancy.
Dalton
Philips, the chief executive said: "This is the right time to modernise
the way our stores are managed. These changes will improve our focus on
customers and lead to simpler, smarter ways of working.”
Morrisons has been suffering
more than most in the supermarket wars, as shoppers defect in droves to the
hard discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl.
Earlier
on Tuesday, the effect of the discounters on prices was amply demonstrated as
the inflation rate fell to 1.5% in May, its lowest level in almost five years.
Food
and non-alcoholic drinks prices were actually down year-on-year, falling 0.6%,
as the big four supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons)
attempt to shore up their market shares with price cuts.
Assess the possible impact on Morrisons of the
decision to delayer a level of in store management. [10]
