Three Sobeys employees on P.E.I. will be impacted by Friday’s announcement that the company is cutting about 800 office jobs nationally from its grocery business as part of efforts to create one efficient national organization out of five regional operations.
“We have multiple roles that are based in the field, which represent the changes outside of our major office locations,” said a company spokesperson in an email to The Guardian.
Local reports began to emerge late Thursday ahead of an internal announcement to Sobeys staff. The company confirmed the reports Friday morning.
"The future success of Sobeys, and our continued service to over 900 communities across the country, depends on our steadfast commitment to transform our business," said Michael Medline, who is president and CEO of Sobeys and its parent company, Empire Co. Ltd.
Related: Sobeys to cut 800 office jobs as part of reorganization of grocery business
Sobeys is Canada's second-largest grocery company, after Loblaw Cos. Ltd., and faces many of the same challenges in the industry: competition from new rivals, higher costs from rising minimum wages in some areas and technological change.
However, the company has also been struggling for several years with problems arising from its acquisition of Safeway Canada — which gave Sobeys a much bigger presence in Western Canada.
- With files from The Canadian Press
