Co-op job cuts not due to Tesco

THE CO-OPERATIVE’S most northerly superstore in Lerwick is to shed 14 full time equivalent staff as part of a nationwide cost cutting measure. Staff were told of the job cuts this week.

The company denied the cuts were anything to do with competition from other stores, such as Tesco who have had a major impact on the balance of supermarket trade in the islands since they arrived three years ago.

A company spokesman said that hours were being cut across the country to “ensure a consistent standard across all of our stores”.

That means the equivalent of 390 full time jobs are going across the Co-op’s 3,000 UK stores, with the equivalent of 130 going from just 12 stores in Scotland.

The spokesman said: “We have carried out a review of staffing levels across the whole of the UK. We have not particularly focussed on Shetland or the Highlands.
“The result of that process is that unfortunately in a relatively small number of stores we are having to make some adjustments. It’s not connected to Tesco.”

He said discussions would take place on how to implement the cuts and should there be any actual redundancies, every effort would be made to redeploy staff within the Co-op or help them find alternative employment.