{"id":695306,"date":"2026-07-16T18:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695306\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:51:21","slug":"asda-shakes-up-store-staff-working-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695306\/","title":{"rendered":"Asda shakes up store staff working hours"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"picture\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Asda proposes shake up of working hours\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/400615_asdastorerollbackpromotion2_750912.jpg\"   loading=\"eager\" class=\"lazyloaded\" width=\"5709\" height=\"3806\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Asda has told store staff to expect to be more \u201cflexible\u201d in a major shake-up of working hours aimed at ensuring shoppers enjoy a more \u201cconsistent\u201d experience in its stores.<\/p>\n<p>In internal briefing notes seen by The Grocer, the <a class=\"intextlink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/supermarkets\/244.subject\" rel=\"intextlink_3 nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">supermarket<\/a> says it is reviewing working patterns and rotas across its estate to \u201censure we have the right number of colleagues at the right times to deliver task and service, consistently and productively\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/asda\/37.subject\" rel=\"intextlink_0 nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Asda<\/a>\u00a0wants all store workers to be multi-skilled and \u201cflexible\u201d, so therefore able to work across all areas of the store and stockrooms. It will focus on four key areas\u00a0\u2013 \u201creplenishment, process, serving and picking\u201d \u2013 the briefing said.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, the supermarket is also aiming to reduce hours in a small number of stores currently deemed to be overstaffed in an effort to cut its costs. Workers in those stores would be offered voluntary redundancy equating\u00a0to around 1% of its total workforce, Asda said. Redundancies will not be compulsory however, it added.<\/p>\n<p>Store managers were called into meetings earlier this week, with wider store colleagues notified of the proposals on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re making some changes to our ways of working in stores to improve service and standards for customers,\u201d an Asda spokesperson confirmed to The Grocer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShopping habits have changed, with demand peaking at different times across the store.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese changes will ensure colleagues are in the right place at the right time, while bringing greater consistency to how key tasks are completed across all locations,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p>The changes proposed by Asda echo a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/news\/waitrose-consulting-with-store-staff-ahead-of-working-hours-shake-up\/683027.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">similar, and largely successful move rolled out by Waitrose over the past couple of years as part of its own Simpler Shops programme<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Store experience still a major issue for Asda<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the latest move by executive chairman Allan Leighton to improve Asda\u2019s free-falling market share. The reintroduction of Rollback and <a class=\"intextlink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/product-prices-and-promotions\/634.subject\" rel=\"intextlink_1 nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">price<\/a> cuts, while restoring Asda\u2019s price position over the traditional big four, has failed to draw customers back into stores.<\/p>\n<p>Poor standards and a lack of consistency in customer experience between stores are seen as a major reason why shoppers are staying away. The problems were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/news\/allan-leighton-defiant-asda-turnaround-is-working-despite-slowdown\/712492.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">exacerbated by the disastrous final stage of Asda\u2019s Project Future IT transition from Walmart in August<\/a>, which left warehouses in chaos and shelves empty.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/retail-and-wholesale\/asda-to-spend-12m-on-major-upgrades-to-yorkshire-stores\/707701.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Asda announced it would invest \u00a312m to improve seven stores<\/a> in its Yorkshire heartland, as well as Grimsby and Stockton. However, it\u2019s been recognised internally that a wider investment into store hours is needed to raise standards across the board.<\/p>\n<p>The shake-up of working hours comes alongside a major customer experience drive launched by chief customer and digital officer Rachel Eyre last month, aimed at improving Asda\u2019s quality perception among shoppers.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign, which is dubbed \u201cTake a Fresh Look\u201d, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/news\/asda-bids-to-woo-back-shoppers-with-major-range-and-store-refresh\/719070.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">included a major upgrade of its fresh and frozen aisles<\/a>, as well as a swathe of additional price cuts and <a class=\"intextlink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thegrocer.co.uk\/loyalty\/51.subject\" rel=\"intextlink_2 nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">loyalty<\/a> enhancements.<\/p>\n<p>$(document).ready(function() {<br \/>\nif (window.location.pathname == &#8216;\/advertise&#8217;) {<br \/>\n$.getScript(&#8220;https:\/\/tag.clearbitscripts.com\/v1\/pk_6c1cac1dc287e45bfaab20867b193dcb\/tags.js&#8221;);<br \/>\nconsole.log(&#8220;Clearbit Loaded&#8221;);<br \/>\n}<br \/>\n});<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Asda has told store staff to expect to be more \u201cflexible\u201d in a major shake-up of working hours&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}