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Sainsbury’s to cut 3,000 jobs and close all cafes

Sainsbury’s to cut 3,000 jobs and close all cafes
Emma Lunn
Written By:
Posted:
24/01/2025
Updated:
24/01/2025

The supermarket giant is reducing its headcount by 3,000, closing the remainder of its in-store cafes, and removing hot food counters as part of cost-cutting plans.

The job losses will include a 20% reduction in senior management roles, while all head office departments will be reorganised to streamline the decision-making across Sainsbury’s and Argos.

Sainsbury’s said it was discussing the changes with the affected workers, with options for employees including redeployment where possible, as well as tailored guidance for their future career options.

Chief executive Simon Roberts announced the changes as part of Sainsbury’s three-year ‘Next Level’ strategy. He said the changes – which involve proposals to close all remaining patisserie, hot food and pizza counters – will create space to offer more of its fresh food ranges in more stores.

According to the supermarket, the majority of Sainsbury’s shoppers don’t use the cafes regularly, with cafes and food halls run by specialist partners becoming more popular.

Roberts said: “We launched our Next Level strategy almost a year ago and are totally focused on making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day. As a result, we’re seeing real momentum across our business, with a best-ever-value position, leading quality and increasing market share.

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“As we accelerate into year two and beyond of our strategy, we are facing… 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.”

“The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum, but have also meant some difficult choices impacting our dedicated colleagues in a number of parts of our business. We’ll be doing everything we can to support anyone impacted by today’s announcements.”

In November, the supermarket’s customers were warned of a post-Budget price hike on the horizon.