South African grocery and clothing retailer giant, Pick n Pay, on Tuesday confirmed a decision to do away with more than 1 000 junior manager roles across their stores, but that an equivalent number of positions were being created at the same time.

PICTURES | A look inside Pick n Pay’s new flagship store in the Western Cape

However, Pick n Pay added it was unlikely to lead to as many retrenchments because ‘most of them would be redeployed’.

Which is your favourite South African supermarket? Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article

In an interview with Business Day, chief business transformation officer David North said the group had “several thousand junior managers” and only certain roles, including receiving managers and their service counterparts, were affected by the Section 189 legal process that deals with retrenchments.

North said more than 1 000 people could be affected.

ALSO READ | Has Hellmann’s mayonnaise actually been discontinued or is this a scam?

“However, we believe the majority of those [affected managers] will be placed back in equivalent roles in the business. We envisage a few hundred will be affected,” he added.

“We are planning to create several hundred jobs at a more junior level at our stores to improve customer service. There will be more jobs. We are encouraging our colleagues who might be affected to be flexible.”

PICK N PAY STORES OFFER AROUND 18 000 PRODUCTS ON AVERAGE

POLL | Got money to invest? Which of these banks gets your hard-earned cash?

Pick n Pay has some 90 000 employees.

As reported by The South African website, Pick n Pay is expected to create new junior level jobs across its supermarkets as it rolls out a new strategy announced in 2022 that splits its core Pick n Pay offering into two distinct brands, namely Pick n Pay and Pick n Pay QualiSave.

In May last year Pick n Pay announced that it would reorganise its stores into two brands: Pick n Pay which will serve more affluent consumers and Pick n Pay QualiSave which will cater to consumers in the growing middle market through lower prices.

The group confirmed the aim is to convert around 40% of its Pick n Pay stores into QualiSave outlets.

The new Pick n Pay QualiSave stores will offer 8 000 products across different categories such as meat, fresh produce and bakery and some essential items.

By contrast, Pick n Pay stores offer around 18 000 products.