Morrisons implements employee monitoring: how will it affect stores.

Changes in Morrisons stores

According to The Sun: The Morrisons supermarket is implementing important changes in its stores to save time on stocking shelves with products.

The company will start using a new tracking app that will help store managers monitor how quickly employees stock products on the shelves.

This system, first reported by the Telegraph, will allow timely identification of when employees may need additional training.

This step comes against a backdrop of increasing competition, as Morrisons may lose its leadership in the UK market to Lidl.

According to recent data, the discount retailer holds 8.3% of the grocery market, while Morrisons' share is 8.4%, according to Worldpanel data.

It is worth noting that a year ago, Morrisons' share was 8.6%, and in 2022 it was 9.4%.

The supermarket has long been monitoring its employees' work speed to ensure an adequate number of staff on the sales floors.

The new app 'will help teams understand their productivity' and allow managers to assess employees' work without involving the central office.

'Along with a large part of our sector, we have been using data on 'time and motion' for some time to help us establish store working hours and ensure fair, consistent, and standardized ways of working,' commented a Morrisons representative.

'To support this, we created an app to help teams understand their productivity. This will allow us to be fair and consistent in proper recognition of colleagues, as well as identify training opportunities and understand where additional support and training may be needed,' he added.

What else is happening at Morrisons?

Last year, Morrisons cut over 3,600 jobs and closed 17 stores as part of a major overhaul of its operations.

The number of employees at the company decreased from 104,819 to 101,144 in the year leading up to October 27, 2024.

The cuts affected Morrisons stores, the head office, as well as manufacturing and distribution operations.

The latest cuts came after 17 stores across the UK were closed earlier this year, including the last store in Hackney, North Yorkshire, which closed on May 14.

16 other stores were closed in April.

As part of the cost-cutting program, the retailer also closed more than 50 of its cafeterias, 35 meat and fish departments, as well as 18 Market Kitchen food courts earlier this year.

The company pointed to the need to reduce costs in the face of rising financial pressures.

Amid changes in the business structure, Morrisons is adapting its operations to cope with increasing competition in the market. This reflects the company's commitment to improving efficiency and remaining competitive in a rapidly changing retail environment.