Supermarket hiring to support digital expansion
TESCO has created 16,000 new permanent roles in the UK to support growth in its online business.
The 16,000 jobs are in a addition to the 4,000 permanent jobs the retailer had already created since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
New roles will include 10,000 pickers to assemble customer orders and 3,000 delivery drivers, as well as other roles in stores and distribution centres.
The supermarket expects the majority of these roles will be filled by colleagues who joined on a temporary basis at the start of lockdown.
Tesco’s digital sales have more than doubled since the coronavirus crisis hit. In April, the supermarket served 1.5 million customers through its online store in one week, up from near 600,000 at the start of the pandemic.
Before Covid-19, around 8% of Tesco’s sales were online. That figure is now more than 16%, with the supermarket expecting online sales of over £5.5 billion this year, up from £3.3 billion last year.
Jason Tarry, chief executive of Tesco UK and Ireland said: “Since the start of the pandemic, our colleagues have helped us to more than double our online capacity, safely serving nearly 1.5 million customers every week and prioritising vulnerable customers to ensure they get the food they need.
“These new roles will help us continue to meet online demand for the long term, and will create permanent employment opportunities for 16,000 people across the UK.”
