Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) is adding 16,000 new staff to its online business to cope with a boom in orders and the growing threat of Amazon.
The supermarket giant said it was seeing exceptional growth online and additional staff are needed to pick customer orders from shelves, make deliveries and at its store and distribution centres.
Tesco said weekly online customer numbers had risen from around 600,000 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to nearly 1.5mln, with 16% of its sales now online.
The supermarket employs around 300,000 people in the UK and has already added 4,00 permanent positions since the outbreak of the pandemic as demand has soared during lockdown.
Last week, Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis revealed the retailer is a launching a free delivery service for its premium customers to tackle the threat of Amazon's entry into groceries.
At present Tesco charges £4.50 for deliveries, but Lewis said this will be dropped for customers who have signed up for its Clubcard Plus scheme.
Earlier this month, online mega-giant Amazon said it was expanding its UK online grocery service Fresh to include free deliveries of groceries such as bread, vegetables and fruit to premium service Prime members.