Hundreds of jobs to go at Coles

Supermarket giant Coles is cutting over 400 jobs in a management reshuffle aimed at cutting costs, the Australian Financial Review has reported.

The retailer told staff on Thursday that 450 roles would go at its head office in Melbourne as part of a three-year program to reduce costs and allow for further investment in online and convenience.

The move comes a week after Woolworths announced a restructure of its store operations, resulting in staff at many of its supermarkets facing redeployment or redundancies.

The AFR reported major changes to leadership at Coles with Alister Jordan, chief executive of Coles Express, Coles Online and corporate affairs, and Coles’ chief store operations officer, Paul Bradshaw, to leave the company by the end of this year.

Chief operating officer, Greg Davis, has been appointed chief executive commercial and will take over the running of the petrol and convenience business.

Coles chief supply chain officer Matthew Swindells will move into Davis’ role and will oversee supply chain and store operations.

Last month Coles’ former director of fresh foods Alex Freudmann was announced as the new managing director of Woolworths liquor business, Dan Murphy’s. 

The news comes less than a week out from Coles’ Investor Day in which the retailer is due to share updates on the business.

Inside Retail contacted Coles for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

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