Asda, Lidl to hire 7,500 workers to cope with coronavirus crisis
Supermarket chains looking to hire people who have been laid off
Asda, the UK unit of US supermarket giant Walmart, and German chain Lidl said they planned to hire more than 7,500 temporary employees who have been laid off elsewhere due to Covid-19.
Chief executive Roger Burnley said the company planned to hire 5,000 workers and wanted to help people "who are experiencing the other end of this crisis and need work".
"Where we can provide opportunities for employment, even short term, to help people through this period, we want to play our part. And where we are able to reduce the strain on our smaller suppliers and tenants – we will do so," he said.
The UK unit of German discount chain Lidl said it would create 2,500 jobs across its 800 stores. The roles will be temporary and will pay at least £9.30 an hour.
It's UK chief executive Christian Härtnagel said: "Our store colleagues are doing an incredible job at keeping our shelves stocked, and serving communities during an extremely challenging period. Temporarily expanding our teams is one way we can help support our colleagues and customers, whilst providing work to those that have had their employment affected by the current situation."
British supermarket group Morrisons on Tuesday said it planned to create 3,500 new jobs.
Supermarkets have faced a wave of buying as Britons panic and overstock in fear of a lengthy shutdown such as that witnessed in Italy. The mood has been typified by consumers buying excessive amounts of toilet roll even though there has been no official guidance that this would help fight the virus in any way.
The industry is struggling to keep stock on the shelves and deliver online orders. Internet retailer Ocado was forced to stop registering new customers and temporarily take down its website and mobile app as demand overloaded its systems.