SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has confirmed that up to 9,000 jobs are at risk across its head office and some stores as part of efforts to "simplify" the business.
It said it expected around half of the affected employees could be redeployed to new roles.
Sweeping changes across the business will include a reduction in deli counters, with 90 stores set to lose the service altogether.
It remains unclear at this stage how the changes will impact on the company's 9,000-strong workforce in Northern Ireland, where it operates more than 40 outlets.
In addition to those directly employed by Tesco, the changes will also impact third-party caterers as the company replaces the hot food service in its staff rooms with self-service kitchens.
Jason Tarry, chief executive of Tesco UK and Ireland, said: "In our four years of turnaround we've made good progress, but the market is challenging and we need to continually adapt to remain competitive and respond to how customers want to shop.
"We're making changes to our UK stores and head office to simplify what we do and how we do it, so we're better able to meet the needs of our customers. This will impact some of our colleagues and our commitment is to minimise this as much as possible and support our colleagues throughout."
Additional changes include reduced hours dedicated to both stock control and merchandising.
Head office workers are also facing cuts as the company moves to a "simpler and leaner structure".
However, Tesco denied reports that it will overhaul its in-store bakeries, saying that no significant changes are planned this year.
Responding to the news, trade union Usdaw's national officer Pauline Foulkes said: "This is devastating news for staff, who have played a crucial role in Tesco's turnaround project, contributing to 12 successive quarters of growth, solid Christmas trading and over a billion pounds of profit.
"We will enter into consultation talks with Tesco, where we will examine the business case for their proposed changes."
Meanwhile shares in Ocado have been boosted by reports that the online grocer is in talks with Marks & Spencer to launch a £1 billion food delivery service.
The stock gained as much as 6.7 per cent, surpassing 1,000p in early trading on Monday. Meanwhile, M&S hit a high of 297.6p, up 2.6 per cent.
It came on the back of reports that M&S would buy the Waitrose part of the Ocado business, including distribution centres and vans, when the existing contract ends next year.
According to the Mail on Sunday, top executives have held discussions over the past few weeks regarding the proposal.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the deal would have positive potential outcomes for both parties.
"Such a move would be another tick in the box for Ocado, which is adding relationships with supermarkets in several parts of the world.
"Its core focus is now selling technology expertise to the food retail sector rather than running physical delivery operations," he said.
"For Marks & Spencer, having a stronger delivery network would give it a new way in which to try and boost earnings.
"There is no guarantee this would be the magic solution to fix its declining profits but it would put the business on a more level pegging with some of its key competitors."
But Bruno Monteyne, analyst at Bernstein, said it seemed "unlikely" that M&S would be a replacement for Waitrose given the latter's buying volumes on branded products.
"M&S price points are also materially higher than the Waitrose private label ranges," he added.
But he said M&S could help to fill capacity at Ocado's Erith fulfilment centre or could even be a launch partner for the technology business's Amazon Prime Now-style immediacy-grocery concept.
