Plick n Pay, one of South Africa’s largest grocery retailer said it will cut about 3,500 jobs across South Africa.
Pick n Pay said in a statement that monitored through Reuters that:
“The voluntary severance programme is one of several steps we have taken to make our business more competitive in what is a tough trading environment. For reasons of timing, it will have a material impact on our [first-half] result,” Chief Executive Richard Brasher said.
Pick n Pay expects its headline earnings per share for the half-year to fall by more than 20 percent, the company said. But payroll savings from the second half of the year will neutralise the effect of the retrenchment costs on its full-year results, Pick n Pay said.
“In subsequent years, the reduction in employee numbers will have a significant positive impact on the operating costs of the group, creating additional headroom to reduce prices and improve value for customers,” it said.
The company disclosed that Jobs will be cut at head office, in the company’s regional structure, store operations and in its supply chain, it said.
“These roles and functions were no longer required due to improvements in organisation, planning and technology,” the company said.
The company was created in 1967 when consumer champion Raymond Ackerman purchased the first four stores in Cape Town, the Group’s vision has grown and expanded to encompass stores in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho. In addition Pick n Pay owns a 49% share of a Zimbabwean supermarket business, TM Supermarkets.
The Group is managed through its South Africa and Rest of Africa divisions.
