Asda trials four-day week in bid to stamp out manager revolt

Asda is trialling a four-day week in a bid to “stamp out revolt” amongst the supermarket’s store managers following a rise in staff turnover, The Telegraph has reported. 

The business is reportedly looking to rebuild relations with senior staff after ongoing cost cuts and concerns over company culture have led to store managers “leaving in their droves”.

According to The Telegraph, a presentation last year revealed details of the trial, which comes as management raised concerns over a 13.9% rise in turnover amongst managers.

The presentation reportedly said this had “impacted the stability and capability of our teams in store which in turn has impacted the colleague experience and by extension our customers”.

In light of this, a four-day week trial was launched, with the group also trialling other flexible working arrangements, including shorter shifts. The trial is set to conclude later this month.

Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, told Retail Sector: “Asda’s managers are leaving in their droves, we hear daily from disgruntled managers who are having to face the continued pressures of trying to run stores with less hours, less resources and more pressure from head office. 

“ASDA have been forced to accept that all is not well amongst their managers and are attempting to address some of the issues by trialling a reduction in managers’ weekly working hours.”

She added: “Unfortunately this does not address the realities on the shopfloor; traders not being left to trade to their local communities and a continuing decline in the resources available to do their job due to the asset stripping of their private equity owners. 

“At some point ASDA will have to accept that a radical overhaul is needed if it wants to attract the talent required to make ASDA a success.”

An Asda spokesman told Retail Sector: “Since September 2023, we have been trialling a variety of flexible working patterns for managers in 20 stores, including a four-day working week for the same pay and benefits. More flexible working patterns have become commonplace in retail leadership in recent years, and we are keen to test and learn different ways of working that benefit our colleagues and business. 

“While we are still evaluating the results of this trial, the feedback from participating colleagues has been very positive. Asda has also invested a total of £325m in increasing pay for both store-based and logistics colleagues since 2022. For the record, Asda saw a 6% reduction in colleague turnover between 2022 and 2023.”

News of the trial comes as GMB Union confirmed that strike action at Asda’s Gosport superstore has been suspended to 19 January. It was previously set to begin on 12 January, but following talks between the union and Asda, GMB put out its position and Asda has asked to meet again on 18 January to respond to these resolutions.

It comes as MPs have been grilling Asda bosses, including Mohsin Issa, at a select committee after GMB identified a £2bn hole in its accounts, while £2bn has been declared as dividends.