Supermarket chain Morrisons has said it will create around 3,500 new jobs across the UK as demand surges on the back of COVID-19 isolation.
The jobs will be a mix of pickers, drivers and distribution roles as Morrisons looks to boost its home delivery service with more and more people staying in their houses.
2,500 of the positions will be either pickers or drivers and a further 1,000 new staff will work at Morrisons’ distribution hubs around the UK.
There have been reports of some shoppers not being able to find a delivery slot on supermarkets’ online order websites for up to two weeks.
Morrisons says it will increase the number of shops where pickers work by up to 100 and is setting up a telephone call centre for shoppers who don’t have access to the internet. The moves will allow Morrisons to open up more delivery slots and reduce waiting times for their customers.
Other measures which Morrisons are introducing include a new ‘menu’ of simple food parcels which will contain a mix of the most popular products which shoppers in self isolation tend to buy.
Announcing the recruitment drive, Morrisons’s chief executive, David Potts, said: “These measures will support our very hard-working colleagues, enable us to provide more food to more people in their homes and create opportunities for people whose jobs are affected by the coronavirus.”
“We expect the days, weeks and months ahead to be very testing and we are determined to do our bit,” added Mr Potts.
In order to ‘do their bit’ for their employees, Morrisons have also said they will provide extra measures such as a colleague hardship fund and ensuring that customers pay by card or smartphone to reduce the risk of spreading the virus via cash handling.
All staff will also be eligible for sick pay regardless of whether their existing contract currently entitles them to it.
You can check for the latest vacancies in your area by visiting the supermarket chain’s job site or find out more about working at Morrisons here.
And for a complete guide to the many types of different jobs at some of the UK’s biggest grocery chains you can take a look at our guide to Supermarket Jobs now.
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