Pick n Pay says restructure likely to result in ‘a few hundred’ job losses

JSE-listed grocery and clothing retailer Pick n Pay on Tuesday said a decision to do away with more than 1,000 junior managers was unlikely to lead to as many retrenchments because most of them would be redeployed.

In an interview with Business Day on Tuesday, chief business transformation officer David North said the group had “several thousand junior managers” and only certain roles, including receiving managers and their service counterparts, were affected by the Section 189 legal process that deals with retrenchments.

North said more than 1,000 people could be affected. “However, we believe the majority of those [affected managers] will be placed back in equivalent roles in the business. We envisage a few hundred will be affected.”

“We are planning to create several hundred jobs at a more junior level at our stores to improve customer service. There will be more jobs. We are encouraging our colleagues who might be affected to be flexible,” North said.

North, said the retailer introduced a “more modernised” junior store management structure over a year ago as part of its Ekuseni plan that split its core Pick n Pay offering into two distinct brands, Pick n Pay and Pick n Pay QualiSave.

It was hoped the restructure could be implemented with no retrenchments, but that proved impossible, he said.

Management and leaders of the Joint Affirmative Management Forum (Jamafo), the trade union representing the affected staff, are set to meet at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), on Thursday.

North said the restructuring was explained to Jamafo leadership. “We had several meetings with them. They are pushing back against the proposal, that’s why we are in the CCMA,” he said.

“We are doing this to improve the service we are giving to customers. This junior store management restructuring is about improving the service we are giving to customers.”

Jamafo general secretary Andile Ncamane did not immediately respond to question.

Pick n Pay was among several hundred businesses affected by the July 2021 riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and closed more than stores closed during the mayhem that cost the economy losing about R50bn in lost output. More than 300 people lost their lives.

The retailer was also hit hard by the alcohol ban during the Covid-19 lockdown, resulting in the retailer losing an estimated R4bn in sales.

mkentanel@businesslive.co.za