Seasonal boost as Sainsbury set to hire 20,000

by PETER RANSCOMBE - 27/08/2009

"J SAINSBURY yesterday unveiled plans to take on 20,000 seasonal staff, its largest intake ever for the festive period, as the UK's supermarket sector continues its expansion despite the recession."

At least 1,000 of the seasonal workers are expected to be kept on in permanent positions by the supermarket chain, which last Christmas recruited about 12,000 temporary staff. In addition to the 1,300 new permanent posts north of the Border and 1,000 in northern England announced earlier this month.

Last month, Asda revealed plans to create nearly 500 posts in Dundee if the chain is granted planning permission to open its third supermarket in the city.

Retail experts said the rise in recruitment highlighted the continued growth in the popularity of supermarkets through their ability to give customers the food they want at ever lower prices.

Richard Dodd, a spokesman for the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "Some of our members – particularly the big food retailers – have still been able to announce significant job creation even during this recession.

"That is linked to the overall success of the supermarkets in delivery of what customers want, a trend that goes back decades to the point when we first had supermarkets in this country.

"They are still growing because they can offer customers attractive prices and convenience. That's what has appealed to customers and driven the growth of the supermarkets and still does."

Sainsbury – which has about 6,000 of its 150,000 staff in Scotland – said nearly 23 million shoppers visited its stores in the week before Christmas last year, compared with an average of 18.5 million outside the festive rush.

The chain, which has 38 stores in Scotland and 817 throughout the UK as a whole, said 100 positions on its "try before you buy" training scheme will be available to the new seasonal staff and existing workers. The scheme aims to train staff as departmental managers without the need for them to gain a university degree.

Seasonal staff will work on the check-outs, stack shelves and gather goods ordered over the internet for home delivery.

Dodd added: "Christmas is a tremendously important time for retailers. In terms of this Christmas, it's clearly going to be another tough one but I don't think it will be as tough as last year."

The jobs boost unveiled by Sainsbury earlier this month will come through store expansions at Darnley, Hamilton and Leven and new shops in Strathaven and Prestwick.

The 1,300 posts will be created by next summer. The acquisition of six Somerfield stores, announced in March, will generate a further 300 jobs.

News of the jobs came after chief executive Justin King announced plans to increase the chain's shop floor space by 15 per cent in UK over two years.

In the year to the end of March, Sainsbury's sales grew by 6 per cent to £20.4 billion, returning a pre-tax profit of £466 million.

In June, the supermarket group announced plans for a £445m rights issue specifically to step-up its expansion drive.

Last week's supermarket figures from analysts at TNS Worldpanel showed that the chain grew its market share to 15.9 per cent, chipping away at market leader Tesco with 31 per cent.

Scotland looks set to continue to be a supermarket battleground with Sainsbury looking to expand into the Highlands with its proposed store at Nairn and up-market competitor Waitrose soon to open its first store in Glasgow.

More Details: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business/Seasonal-boost-as-Sainsbury-set.5592055.jp