The supermarket group Asda is terminating 1,360 jobs as it "radically" reorganises its store-management in the face of the ongoing movement towards online grocery-shopping.
The company stated that 4,100 staff would be affected by the re-structure, which will also create 5,670 new roles, many of which are linked to e-commerce and grocery home-shopping. A statement said the new structure also put more staff on the shop floor and removes back-office administration tasks.
Asda chief executive, Andy Clarke, said: "Every supermarket must adapt to the intense changes in UK retailing or they will get left behind."
The decision was first announced in May when Asda said as many as 2,600 staff could lose their jobs. It comes as Asda attempts to find £1 billion in cost-savings over the next five years. All the major supermarkets are cutting costs as they are forced to lower prices to compete with the rise of discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, while also investing in the rapid expansion of online grocery-shopping.