Tesco has announced it will create 16,000 new permanent jobs following a surge in online shopping during the coronavirus lockdown. The roles include 10,000 staff to pick customer orders from shelves and 3,000 delivery drivers.
The supermarket giant said the recruitment drive reflects a permanent shift in shopping habits, with online customers rising from 600,000 to nearly 1.5 million since the start of the pandemic. Online sales now account for 16% of total sales, up from 9% before the crisis, and are expected to exceed £5.5 billion this year.
Tesco expects many of the new roles to be filled by temporary staff hired during lockdown. The company has already created 4,000 permanent roles since March. The new positions are permanent and include both full-time and part-time contracts.
Retail analyst Clive Black of Shore Capital said the crisis has dramatically increased the size of the online grocery market, which is unlikely to revert to pre-pandemic levels. He noted that economies of scale are making the sector more profitable, with improved delivery efficiency and reduced need for promotions.
The expansion contrasts with job cuts elsewhere in the retail sector. Marks & Spencer recently announced 7,000 redundancies, while Debenhams plans to cut 2,500 roles. Discount chains Aldi and Lidl, which do not offer online services, have not seen the same growth.
Tesco UK & Ireland CEO Jason Tarry said the new roles will help the company meet online demand for the long term. The move underscores the accelerating shift from bricks-and-mortar to online retail, which has been hastened by the pandemic.
