J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) will axe 3,000 jobs in the next few months as it reshuffles middle management and shuts down in-store cafés and deli counters, which it said will "simplify the business".
The jobs cuts will include around 20% senior management roles, the supermarket group said, having previously announced plans for £1 billion in cost cuts.
It said cafes are being closed as "the majority of Sainsbury's most loyal shoppers" do not use them regularly.
The FTSE 100 grocer, which made profits of around £700 million in each of the past two years, said the management rejig would "support faster decision making and drive performance", with all head office departments "reorganised to become dedicated to the different needs of the Sainsbury’s and Argos businesses, while creating fewer, bigger roles with clearer accountabilities".
Chief executive Simon Roberts said the chain had to make "tough choices".
The launch of his 'next level' a year ago has led to "real momentum across our business, with a best-ever value position, leading quality and increasing market share", he said, with the changes announced today representing an acceleration of the strategy.
"We are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective."
Retailers have been among the UK businesses complaining about rising costs from changes the government announced in the Budget, including hiking National Insurance payments to help cover the public spending deficit.