J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) is set to take the axe to more than 1,000 jobs at its head office as part of its latest efficiency drive.
Reports over the weekend suggested the UK’s second-largest grocery chain had already drafted in management consultancy McKinsey in a bid to wipe another £500mln from its cost base.
READ: Argos workers plan three weeks of strikes over Sainsbury's cost cutting measures
It’s the latest in a series of major shake-ups at Sainsbury’s. Back in March, the supermarket slashed 400 jobs and told 4,000 other employees that they faced ‘major changes’ to their working hours.
A couple of years or so ago, 800 staff members lost their jobs as part of a separate drive to cut costs by £500mln over a three-year period.
That was followed by another £500mln, three-year cost saving target last November just after Sainsbury’s completed its £1.4bn takeover of Argos.
Not just Sainsbury’s though….
It’s not just Sainsbury’s that has been cutting costs to the bone; all of its main rivals have been forced to bring in similar measures in response to the loss of customers to the German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Earlier this summer, Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) cut 1,200 positions at its head office as well as a further 1,100 jobs at its call centre in Cardiff.
In fact, since new chief executive Dave Lewis took the reins back in 2014, Tesco has reduced its staff count by more than 10,000.
Sainsbury’s refused to comment on the reports.
Shares were down 0.6% to 251p on Monday morning.