TORONTO - Grocery store giant Loblaw Co. Ltd. will cut 800 to 1,000 jobs at its head office and regional offices in a bid to create "a leaner and more responsive organization.''
There will be no jobs cut at Loblaws' stores or distribution centres, but the Toronto-based company will take a charge of between $150 million to $200 million in the first quarter of 2007 to cover related costs such as severance.
Loblaw, which has suffered through a long and troubled upgrade of its national distribution system while expanding its merchandise offerings beyond groceries to compete with Wal-Mart and others, said the changes "will ensure that the company adapts more quickly to the ever-changing needs of its customers.''
Most of the changes will take place over the next nine months.
"This change is about making sure we support our store team more effectively and about creating a leaner and more responsive organization that moves more quickly,'' said Galen G. Weston, Loblaw's executive chairman.
Weston, 33, succeeded his father, W. Galen Weston, as executive chairman of Loblaw last September.
"While it is difficult to have to reduce the number of people who work at the company, it is an essential step in ensuring this company maintains its position as Canada's leading retailer,'' Weston said in the statement.
Loblaw Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of George Weston Ltd., is Canada's largest food distributor. It also sells general merchandise, drugstore and financial products and services.
It currently has more than with over 134,000 full-time and part-time employees.
