Coles has confirmed that more than 400 jobs will be lost at its store support centre in Tooronga in Melbourne in the biggest restructuring since the $20 billion Wesfarmers acquisition in 2007.
Coles managing director John Durkan said on Thursday that 378 permanent positions and 60 contractor positions in the store support centre would be axed.
Some of these staff may be redeployed, as there are 160 redeployment opportunities across the business.
The job cuts – flagged by Fairfax Media yesterday – are the largest since Wesfarmers took control of Coles in 2007.
The job losses are mainly in back office functions including payments, accounts and IT.
It is understood that several senior executives who joined Coles five or six years ago after Wesfarmers’ $20 billion takeover are also parting ways with the retailer as Mr Durkan puts his stamp on the business after taking the helm in July from Ian McLeod.
Mr Durkan denied reports that jobs would be sent offshore as part of the restructure.
Mr Durkan said Coles would work with team members who wished to move into new roles and all departing staff would be provided with extensive support, including career transition services and full entitlements.
Coles did not say how much the restructure would cost and took no provisions in its full year results, which were released two weeks ago.
“Team members affected by this decision have made a significant contribution to Coles and we sincerely thank them for their hard work,” Mr Durkan said.
“To be a world class retailer, Coles needs to invest further in new stores, in renewing existing stores and in better service and value for our customers,” he said.
“Coles is absolutely focused on better supporting our stores and more than 99,000 team members so they can deliver what our customers want,” he said.
Coles plans to invest $1.1 billion building 70 new stores across Australia over the next few years, creating more than 8000 retail jobs and around 8000 construction jobs.
This includes an investment of $300 million in 14 new stores in Melbourne and regional Victoria over three years, generating more than 3000 retail and construction jobs.
In the next fortnight alone, Coles will open a new store at Kangaroo Flat, in Bendigo, creating 40 new jobs, followed soon after by the opening of a new store at Footscray Plaza, generating 70 new jobs.
Coles is also expanding its financial services team, creating 70 new positions as it rolls out a wider range of products including credit cards, personal finance products and personal loans.
