Tesco to add 16,000 staff as online sales rocket

The grocer said that most of the jobs will be filled by workers who joined during the pandemic to handle the “exceptional growth” in its online business.

Included among the new jobs are 10,000 pickers to put together customer orders and 3,000 drivers to deliver them, plus a number of other roles in stores and across its distribution network.

Those new permanent roles will be in addition to the 4,000 already created since the start of the outbreak with more possible in coming months.

Tesco said: "As the supermarket's online business continues to grow, the number of new roles may increase further in the coming months."

Before the pandemic, around 9% of Tesco's sales were on the worldwide web, a figure which has now risen to 16%.

The supermarket expects online sales of £5.5bn this year, up from £3.3bn in 2019.

Jason Tarry, Tesco's UK and Ireland chief executive, added: "These new roles will help us continue to meet online demand for the long term, and will create permanent employment opportunities for 16,000 people across the UK."

Despite the negative economic impact that the pandemic has had on most sectors of the British economy, food retailers have been mostly spared from the damage as shoppers have needed to stock up on essential groceries.

Online retail has particularly seen an increase in consumer spending as stores work to adapt to social distancing rules and customers prefer to order their shopping from home.