Co-op announce staff reductions

A reduction in staff at the Co-op store in Kirkwall has been announced by the company.

A spokesperson for The Co-operative Group said: “We have conducted a review of staffing levels at our stores, including Kirkwall, to introduce fairer and more consistent standards across The Co-operative estate. This includes introducing a more accurate way of determining the optimum number of working hours required to run each store, while maintaining the same level of service across all our outlets.

“Unfortunately, this means a reduction in the total number of working hours at a number of stores, including Kirkwall. We are now in discussions with colleagues to discuss the impact of this and how it will be implemented.

“The reduction in hours at Kirkwall is equivalent to around 10 full-time members of staff. Should there be any redundancies, every effort will be made to redeploy anyone affected within The Co-operative, or to help them find alternative employment.”