Tesco Ireland sales fall 2% amid jobs cut rumours

Tesco Ireland saw its over-the-counter sales drop by more than 2% in the 12 weeks to the start of this month, the only one of the major supermarket chains to see a decline during the period.

Despite that, however, the company has described as “speculative” suggestions that hundreds of jobs at its Irish operations are at risk as part of the overall group’s rumoured plan to shed 9,000-10,000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting initiative.

It was reported over the weekend that Tesco is planning a major rationalisation programme, after which speculation immediately arose that hundreds of jobs from its 15,000 Irish-based headcount could also go.