Morrisons slashes 720 office jobs but plans 5000 hires for the shop floor

Job losses come a month after the supermarket recorded an annual loss of £800m

Morrisons employs 20,000 people in Yorkshire (Getty Images)

Morrisons has given the first indication of how it plans to handle annual losses of almost £800 million with news that 720 head office jobs are to be slashed, while the number of shop floor staff will rise by 5000.

“We need a simpler, faster and cost-conscious head office and that requires some tough but necessary decisions,” said David Potts, Morrisons chief executive.

He said the company would be offering voluntary redundancies and alternative roles in Morrison’s stores for staff whose jobs are cut.

Last June, Morrisons cut 2600 store management jobs in another shake-up that did little to revive its fortunes. In March it reported pre-tax losses of £792 million, a significant increase from £176 million losses of 2013/14.

Sales, down 5.9 per cent in the year ending February 1, and price cuts of £315 million, weighed on profits.

Morrisons is one of the Big Four supermarkets with Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. All have lost market share since last year to discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl.

Morrisons employs 20,000 people in Yorkshire.